Summary
Sequences specifically expressed in flowers of each sex type of Mercurialis annua have been demonstrated by a comparative analysis of the translation products of their poly(A)+ RNA populations (wheat germ system, two-dimensional electrophoresis). This method confirms previous results of hybridization kinetics: the staminate flowers of the normal fertile male (wild type) and restored fertile male strain (identical morphology) and those of the sterile male genotype contain specific poly(A)+ RNAs and sequences shared by sets of two of these males, as well as numerous common sequences. The pistillate flowers of the constructed female strain 19−5 (carrying male sterility determinants) also contains specific poly(A)+ RNA compared to identical flowers of a normal female genotype. In vitro translation, however, showed a specificity (not revealed by hybridization kinetics) in the normal female genotype compared to a normal male genotype and to the female strain 19−2 (female strain cDNAs hybridized 100% to poly(A)+ RNAs of male and female 19−5 genotypes). Cloning certain specific sequences (cDNAs) of the fertile male wild type and using one cDNA as probe also confirms the previously described male specificity. Moreover, the hormonal dependence of RNA corresponding to a specific male probe is demonstrated: its kinetics of disappearance are a function of the action of the feminizing hormone (cytokinins). These results are in agreement with our hypothesis of sexual organogenesis: “sexual hormones” controlled by regulator genes of the sexual genotype induce, in definite cell lineages of bipotential meristems, the expression of genes specific for male or female expression.
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Hamdi, S., Yu, L.X., Cabré, E. et al. Gene expression in Mercurialis annun flowers: In vitro translation and sex genotype specificity. Male-specific cDNA cloning and hormonal dependence of a corresponding specific RNA. Molec. Gen. Genet. 219, 168–176 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00261173
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00261173