Detection of genes acting downsteram of ectopically expressed TCP/CYC2 transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana

TCP transcription factors from the CYC2-class are involved in the development of monosymmetric flowers in all core eudicot species analysed so far. In Antirrhinum majus, the CYC2/TCP transcription factor CYCLOIDEA (CYC) is the molecular key regulator driving the development of flower monosymmetry (Luo D, Carpenter R, Vincent C, Copsey L, Coen E: Origin of floral asymmetry in Antirrhinum. Nature 1996, 383:794-799). In the Brassicaceae Iberis amara, a stronger expression of the CYC2 gene IaTCP1 in the small adaxial petals likely leads to the reduced petal size in comparison to large abaxial petals, with hardly any IaTCP1 expression. This results in the formation of the monosymmetric Iberis flower (Busch A, Zachgo S: Control of corolla monosymmetry in the Brassicaceae Iberis amara. PNAS 2007, 104:16714-16719). In contrast, the orthologous TCP/CYC2 transcription factor TCP1 from Arabidopsis thaliana, which forms equally sized and shaped petal pairs, only shows an early and transient expression in the adaxial area of floral primordia. This implies that monosymmetry in the Brassicaceae evolved through a heterochronic expression shift of the TCP/CYC2 key regulator gene IaTCP1.

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Busch A, Horn S, Zachgo S