The selective pressure imposed by maximizing male fitness (pollen dispersal) in shaping floral structures is increasingly recognized and emphasized in current plant sciences. To maximize male fitness, many flowers bear a group of stamens with temporally separated anther dehiscence that prolongs presentation of pollen grains. Such an advantage, however, may come with a cost resulting from interf...

SaNa-1A is a novel cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) line in Brassica napus derived from progenies of somatic hybrids between B.napus and Sinapis alba, and SaNa-1B is the corresponding maintainer line. In this study, phenotypic differences of floral organs between CMS and the maintainer lines were observed. By microscope observation in different anther developmental stages of two lines, we found...

The Arabidopsis thaliana F-box protein CORONATINE INSENSITIVE1 (COI1) perceives jasmonate (JA) signals and subsequently targets the Jasmonate-ZIM domain proteins (JAZs) for degradation by the SCF(COI1)-26S proteasome pathway to mediate various jasmonate-regulated processes, including fertility, root growth, anthocyanin accumulation, senescence, and defense. In this study, we screened JAZ-intera...

The popular ornamental flowering plant Dianthus hybrida cv. Telstar Scarlet has been found to exhibit two populations, each with distinct flower morphology: female-like and hermaphroditic. In this work, development of D. was characterized through scanning electron microscopy, light- or stereo- from meristem formation the fully matured, open flower. difference between hermaphrodite plants initia...

Differential screening of a mature Brassica campestris pollen cDNA library has identified five cDNA clones that represent transcripts expressed exclusively, or at elevated levels, in pollen. We show here that the expression of one of these, clone Bcp1, is tissue specific and temporally regulated. The gene is activated during microspore development, as detected by in situ hybridization. Expressi...

FLOWER FLAVONOID TRANSPORTER (FFT) encodes a multidrug and toxin efflux family transporter in Arabidopsis thaliana. FFT (AtDTX35) is highly transcribed in floral tissues, the transcript being localized to epidermal guard cells, including those of the anthers, stigma, siliques and nectaries. Mutant analysis demonstrates that the absence of FFT transcript affects flavonoid levels in the plant and...