Although sugar has been suggested to promote floral transition in many plant species, growth on high concentrations (5% [w/v]) of sucrose (Suc) significantly delayed flowering time, causing an increase in the number of leaves at the time of flowering in Arabidopsis. The effect of high concentrations of Suc seemed to be metabolic rather than osmotic. The delay of floral transition was due to ext...

Phenotypic integration, the coordinated covariance of suites of morphological traits, is critical for proper functioning of organisms. Angiosperm flowers are complex structures comprising suites of traits that function together to achieve effective pollen transfer. Floral integration could reflect shared genetic and developmental control of these traits, or could arise through pollinator-impose...

Plants produce nectar in their flowers as a reward for their pollinators and most of our crops depend on insect pollination, but little is known on the physiological control of nectar secretion. Jasmonates are well-known for their effects on senescence, the development and opening of flowers and on plant defences such as extrafloral nectar. Their role in floral nectar secretion has, however, no...

The genetic architecture of the total phenotype may substantially constrain or enhance the evolution of floral color within populations in response to multiple selection pressures. Using Claytonia virginica I previously identified opposing selection on floral color generated through herbivores and pathogens. Here I ask whether the evolution of floral color in this system is constrained or uncon...

Developing new ornamental cultivars with improved floral attributes is a major goal in floriculture. Biotechnological approach together with classical breeding methods has been used to modify floral color, appearance as well as for increasing disease resistance. Transgenic strategies possess immense potential to produce novel flower phenotypes that are not found in nature. Adoption of Genetic e...

Floral traits and the relative contribution of autonomous selfing to total seed set varies geographically and is often driven by the availability and abundance of suitable pollinators and/or the presence of co-flowering relatives. In the latter case, competition for pollinator services and costs of hybridization can select for floral traits that reduce interspecific gene flow and contribute to ...

Recent studies clarifying the closest relatives of the world's largest flowers, Rafflesiaceae, whose floral diameters range from approximately 11 to approximately 100 cm, indicated that they evolved from tiny-flowered ancestors in a burst of floral gigantism. New data now suggest that floral size evolution within Rafflesiaceae may be more dynamic than expected, with both recent and rapid change...

In Arabidopsis, the population of stem cells present in young flower buds is lost after the production of a fixed number of floral organs. The precisely timed repression of the stem cell identity gene WUSCHEL (WUS) by the floral homeotic protein AGAMOUS (AG) is a key part of this process. In this study, we report on the identification of a novel input into the process of floral stem cell regula...

Information on floral resource costs is fundamental for understanding how selection operates on floral morphology. In this study, I explored the cost of maturing flowers in a self-incompatible population of the ligulate composite Crepis tectorum L. by experimentally manipulating floral investment and then monitoring the response in reproductive effort. Plants on which the heads were removed dur...

SEPALLATA (SEP) genes form an integral part of models that outline the molecular basis of floral organ determination and are hypothesized to act as co-factors with ABCD floral homeotic genes in specifying different floral whorls. The four SEP genes in Arabidopsis function redundantly, but the extent to which SEP genes in other flowering plants function similarly is unknown. Using a recent 113-g...