Sexual dimorphism in white campion: complex control of carpel number is revealed by y chromosome deletions

Sexual dimorphism in the dioecious plant white campion (Silene latifolia = Melandrium album) is under the control of two main regions on the Y chromosome. One such region, encoding the gynoecium-suppressing function (GSF), is responsible for the arrest of carpel initiation in male flowers. To generate chromosomal deletions, we used pollen irradiation in male plants to produce hermaphroditic mutants (bsx mutants) in which carpel development was restored. The mutants resulted from alterations in at least two GSF chromosomal regions, one autosomal and one located on the distal half of the (p)-arm of the Y chromosome. The two mutations affected carpel development independently, each mutation showing incomplete penetrance and variegation, albeit at significantly different levels. During successive meiotic generations, a progressive increase in penetrance and a reduction in variegation levels were observed and quantified at the level of the Y-linked GSF (GSF-Y). Possible mechanisms are proposed to explain the behavior of the bsx mutations: epigenetic regulation or/and second-site mutation of modifier genes. In addition, studies on the inheritance of the hermaphroditic trait showed that, unlike wild-type Y chromosomes, deleted Y chromosomes can be transmitted through both the male and the female lines. Altogether, these findings bring experimental support, on the one hand, to the existence on the Y chromosome of genic meiotic drive function(s) and, on the other hand, to models that consider that dioecy evolved through multiple mutation events. As such, the GSF is actually a system containing more than one locus and whose primary component is located on the Y chromosome.