In angiosperms, sexual reproduction requires a sperm cell, contained within a pollen tube, to fertilize the egg cell. The pollen tubes are capable of growth but have a difficult journey, as egg cells are buried within the ovary of the carpel. Several tissues, known collectively as the reproductive tract, develop within the carpel to facilitate the journey of the pollen tube. The genes involved ...

Miliusa gokhalaei (Annonaceae), a new species from the Western Ghats, India, is described and illustrated. It is distinguished by unequal rounded leaf bases, sessile or shortly pedicellate flowers, thick fleshy petals, glabrous carpel, and included connective of anther. It is closely related to M. indica and M. eriocarpa, with which it shares sub-sessile or shortly petiolate, hairy-nerved leave...

In oilseed crops, carpel and stamen development play vital roles in pollination and rapeseed yield, but the genetic mechanisms underlying carpel and stamen development remain unclear. Herein, a male- and female-sterile mutant was obtained in offspring of a (Brassica napus cv. Qingyou 14) × (Qingyou 14 × B. rapa landrace Dahuang) cross. Subsequently, F2-F9 populations were generated through self...

Isolation of a recessive aco (androcarpel organ) mutation in opium poppy Papaver somniferum, is described. The aco (aco aco) mutant plants form androcarpels in place of inner whorl stamens in their flowers. The abnormal flowers are self-fertile, as stamens in the outer whorl are normal. In aco mutant the calyx, corolla and syncarpous gynoecium are formed like in the wild type ACO plants. The an...

In an effort to determine the genetic basis of exceptionally large tomato fruits, QTL analysis was performed on a population derived from a cross between the wild species Lycopersicon pimpinellifolium (average fruit weight, 1 g) and the L. esculentum cultivar var. Giant Heirloom, which bears fruit in excess of 1000 g. QTL analysis revealed that the majority (67%) of phenotypic variation in frui...

Although the plant epidermis serves primarily a protective role, during plant development some epidermal cells specialize, becoming competent to interact not only with pollen but also with other epidermal cells. In the former case, these interactions mediate recognition, germination, and pollen growth responses and, in the latter case, result in interorgan fusions which, most commonly, alter fl...

Analysis of homeotic flower mutants has revealed that the identity of floral organs is specified by a limited set of key regulatory genes, acting alone and in combination. A model, now known widely as the ABC model, has been shown to apply to a range of plant species (Coen and Meyerowitz, 1991; Weigel and Meyerowitz, 1994). A key regulatory gene specifying carpel identity in Arabidopsis flowers...

Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) and mouse ear cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) both produce siliques that are morphologically similar to each other: a long cylindrical silique composed of two fused carpels. Despite this external similarity, the bittercress capsules have the ability to discharge their seed explosively, whereas the siliques of mouse ear cress only crack open along the suture lines to...

The Crabs Claw (CRC) YABBY gene is required for regulating carpel development in angiosperms and has played an important role in nectary evolution during core eudicot speciation. The function or expression of CRC-like genes has been explored in two basal eudicots, Eschscholzia californica and Aquilegia formosa. To further investigate the function of CRC orthologous genes related to evolution of...