JXB Advance Access originally published online on January 19, 2007
Journal of Experimental Botany 2007 58(5):1133-1141; doi:10.1093/jxb/erl272
RESEARCH PAPER |
Reproductive development and phenotypic differences in garlic are associated with expression and splicing of LEAFY homologue gaLFY
1The Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Science and Genetics in Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Quality Sciences, Rehovot 76100, Israel
2Department of Ornamental Horticulture, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: vhrkamen{at}volcani.agri.gov.il
Modern garlic (Allium sativum L.) cultivars are sterile and propagated only vegetatively. The recent discovery of fertile genotypes in Central Asia and the restoration of flowering and fertility by environmental manipulations open the way for in-depth florogenetic, genetic, and molecular research in garlic. In the present work, two bolting garlic accessions were employed: #3026, developing normal flowers and seeds, and #2509, in which flowers abort at the early stages of development. Morphological studies showed transition of the apical meristems from the vegetative to the reproductive stage and inflorescence initiation in both genotypes. Low temperatures promote transition of the apex and stem elongation, but have no effect on the phenotypic expression of the inflorescence development. The initial stages of reproductive development in non-flowering #2509 plants were followed by abortion of floral primordia at the differentiation stage. A search for genes involved in the control of flowering in garlic resulted in identification of the garlic LEAFY/FLO homologue, gaLFY. Further comparative analyses of gene expression revealed two gaLFY transcripts, differing in 64 nucleotides, with clear splicing borders. The short variant transcript was identified in both genotypes throughout all development stages, whereas the long variant appears in the flowering genotype #3026 only during reproductive development. The phenotypic differences in garlic, with regard to flowering, may be associated with the efficacy of the splicing process.
Key words: Allium sativum, alternative splicing, bulbs, fertility, flowering time control, LFY
* Authorship is shared equally.
Received 7 September 2006; Revised 15 November 2006 Accepted 16 November 2006
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