Provocation of mutability in the level of mutation expressed at the pal-rec gene in Antirrhinum majus

Summary The pallida gene of Antirrhinum majus governs anthocyanin production. The nature of the mutability displayed by its unstable allele pal-rec was dramatically altered following crosses between two pal-rec pal-rec lines with certain separately maintained lines. In both cases a minority of progeny in F₁ or F₂ revealed unprecedented infrequent mutability termed Low mutability. These Low plants and their sibs showed many areas of contrasting mutability superimposed on their initial mutability level. This frequent shifting and Low mutability persisted through several generations of offspring obtained by both selfing and crossing to a non-mutable tester line. Evidence is presented to suggest a hypothesis that the two features of altered mutability are two aspects of the same phenomenon caused by joint action of two independent factors J and k, one contributed by each parental line at the outcross.A separate gene, eosinea, governs anthocyanin type, eos eos plants having pelargonin in place of wild-type magenta cyanin. In addition to the previously known simple depression of pal-rec to Pal mutation frequency in eos eos plants, eos also influences the action of J and k when heterozygous (i.e. Eos eos), thus contributing a basal and a third tier of control influencing mutability of pal-rec.Three levels of control are thus identified, the middle tier being governed by the partnership of J and k producing not a simple change but a complex mutability of mutability.     

Allozymic differentiation of the Antirrhinum majus and A. siculum species groups

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Fifty-two populations were sampled in order to establish the taxonomic delimitation and relationships of eight taxa belonging to the A. majus L. and A. siculum Miller groups. METHODS: Data on 13 allozyme loci were recorded after extraction of fresh leaves and electrophoresis on horizontal 10% starch gels. KEY RESULTS: Genetic distances between conspecific populations are lower than for other species of the genus. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the recognition of A. majus, A. tortuosum, A. linkianum, A. cirrigherum, A. litigiosum and A. barrelieri at specific rank. The genetic distances, together with the lack of morphological differences and the sympatric distribution ranges, support the inclusion of A. australe into A. tortuosum, A. dielsianum into A. siculum, and A. latifolium subsp. intermedium as a synonym of A. latifolium. The results support separation of the taxa studied into two groups, coinciding with series Sicula Rothm. and Majora, but disagreeing with the arrangement of species into them. According to our results, Sicula consist of A. siculum and Majora consists of A. latifolium, A. majus, A. tortuosum, A. linkianum, A. cirrigherum, A. litigiosum and A. barrelieri.     

Multiplication of Antirrhinum majus L. by shoot-tip culture

Nine varieties of Antirrhinum majus L. have been used in a study of in vitro multiplication of plants using shoot-tip culture. Acceptable multiplication rates were obtained in several media with only variety Victory showing significantly lower rates of shoot production. Wounded shoots of this variety produced callus in the absence of added auxin and some of this callus produced prolific roots.     

Regeneration of plants from Antirrhinum majus L. callus

Somaclone production in Antirrhinum majus plants by regeneration of plants from callus cultures has been achieved using three types of explant tissue. Regeneration from mature stem internode-derived callus was extremely poor. Callus derived from seedling shoot tips could be induced to form new shoots in six of seven cultivars tested. Regeneration was achieved in all seven cultivars when callus was produced from segments of hypocotyl and was most effective using agar-solidified medium containing 0.25 mgl^-1 naphthoxyacetic acid + 10% coconut milk. In this case, five of the cultivars produced shoots directly, one produced leaves from the petioles of which new shoots emerged, and one regenerated plants chiefly through the production of embryoids.     

金鱼草珠被绒毡层壁囊的分离与鉴定

由金鱼(Antirrhinum majus L.)草开花后的胚珠中分离出抗乙酰解、抗酶解、对强氧化剂有一定抗性但不抗二乙醇胺的细胞壁囊状结构。切片原位观察表明,它是珠被绒毡层的内壁,能被苏丹 IV 染色与金胺 O 荧光染色。它全面地包围胚囊内正在发育的胚和胚乳,仅在合点与珠孔两端开口,而在此二处分别有胚乳吸器与胚柄与外相通。这一结构的功能可能是保证营养物质定向导入胚囊以及防止珠被绒毡层分泌的水解酶侵蚀胚囊等。     

温室盆栽金鱼草叶面积指数形成模拟模型

以温室中生长的金鱼草品种‘泛美夏粉’为研究对象,依据盆栽金鱼草叶片生长与光温环境的关系,构建了适合温室金鱼草叶面积指数模拟模型,并用独立试验数据对模型进行了检验,旨在提高温室金鱼草生长和蒸腾模型精度和适用性。结果表明,金鱼草出叶数与出苗后累积辐热积呈指数函数关系;叶片长度与出叶后累积辐热积呈负指数函数关系;金鱼草出叶数、叶片长度和叶面积指数的模拟结果与实测值基于1：1直线间的决定系数R。分别为0．98、0．93、0．99,其回归估计标准误R懈E分别为2．6,0．33cm、0．17。本研究建立的模型能够较准确地预测温室盆栽金鱼草叶面积指教动态,参数少且易获取、实用性强。     

AhSSK1, a novel SKP1-like protein that interacts with the S-locus F-box protein SLF

The S-locus F-box (SLF/SFB) protein, recently identified as the pollen determinant of S-RNase-based self-incompatibility (SI) in Solanaceae, Scrophulariaceae and Rosaceae, has been proposed to serve as the subunit of an SCF (SKP1-CUL1-F-box) ubiquitin ligase and to target its pistil counterpart S-RNase during the SI response. However, the underlying mechanism is still in dispute, and the putative SLF-binding SKP1-equivalent protein remains unknown. Here, we report the identification of AhSSK1, Antirrhinum hispanicumSLF-interacting SKP1-like1, using a yeast two-hybrid screen against a pollen cDNA library. GST pull-down assays confirmed the SSK1-SLF interaction, and showed that AhSSK1 could connect AhSLF to a CUL1-like protein. AhSSK1, despite having a similar secondary structure to other SKP1-like proteins, appeared quite distinctive in sequence and unique in a phylogenetic analysis, in which no SSK1 ortholog could be predicted in the sequenced genomes of Arabidopsis and rice. Thus, our results suggest that the pollen-specific SSK1 could be recruited exclusively as the adaptor of putative SCF(SLF) in those plants with S-RNase-based SI, providing an important clue to dissecting the function of the pollen determinant.     

SQUAMOSA‐PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN 1 initiates flowering in Antirrhinum majus through the activation of meristem identity genes

The degree to which developmental genetic pathways are conserved across distantly related organisms is a major question in biology. In Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh., inflorescence development is initiated in response to a combination of external and internal floral inductive signals that are perceived across the whole plant, but are integrated within the shoot apical meristem. Recently, it was demonstrated that SQUAMOSA‐PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN (SBP)‐box proteins regulate A. thaliana flowering time by mediating signals from the autonomous and photoperiod pathways, and by directly activating key genes involved in inflorescence and floral meristem identity, including FRUITFULL (FUL), APETALA1 (AP1) and LEAFY (LFY). In the distantly related core eudicot species Antirrhinum majus L., paralogous SBP‐box proteins SBP1 and SBP2 have likewise been implicated in regulating the AP1 ortholog SQUAMOSA (SQUA). To test the hypothesis that SBP‐box genes are also involved in the floral induction of A. majus, we used a reverse genetic approach to silence SBP1. SBP1‐silenced lines are late to nonflowering, and show reduced apical dominance. Furthermore, expression and sequence analyses suggest that the SBP1‐mediated transition to flowering occurs through the positive regulation of FUL/LFY homologs. Together, these data outline the utility of virus‐induced gene silencing in A. majus, and provide new insight into the conservation of flowering time genetic pathways across core eudicots.     

Conservation status of the threatened Iberian Peninsula narrow endemic Antirrhinum lopesianum Rothm. (Scrophulariaceae)

Abstract

Antirrhinum lopesianum Rothm. is a narrow endemic of the Lusitan Duriensean biogeographical sector (central western Spain and north-eastern Portugal). The species is listed as threatened in several Spanish documents, although it does not figure as such in any Portuguese document. This paper provides a detailed study of its distribution, estimates of the sizes of its populations, the threats it faces, and its current conservation status. The total number of individuals thought to exist is only 768, distributed along the valley of the River Duero on the Spanish – Portuguese border (562, 71.2%), and in the Portuguese Sabor River valley (206, 26.8%). The main threat to the species is loss of habitat: about one third of the Iberian populations can be considered threatened; one population containing 37.6% of all these plants (289) is severely threatened. To determine the Area of Occupancy and the Extent of Occurrence, an exhaustive bibliographical survey was carried out, and herbarium specimens deposited in several institutions were revised. It is, therefore, classifiable as Critically Endangered in Portugal and Endangered in Spain.