Abstract
We have cloned and characterized the expression of Crocus sativus AGAMOUS1 (CsAG1), a putative C-type MADS-box gene homologous to AGAMOUS (AG) from a triploid monocot species crocus (Crocus sativus L.). The typical domain structure of MIKC-type plant MADS proteins was identified. Phylogenetic analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence indicated that the isolated gene forms a clade with the AGAMOUS homologs from the monocots Hyacinthus orientalis and Phalaenopsis equestris. A differential splicing event altering the amino acid sequence at the C terminus was identified, leading to the formation of two mRNAs differing ten nucleotides in size. The presence of both differentially spliced transcripts was restricted only to mature crocus flowers and particularly to stamens and carpels.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- BLAST:
-
basic local alignment search tool
- MADS:
-
minichromosomal maintenance 1 Agamous deficiens serum response factor
- MEGA:
-
molecular evolutionary genetics analysis
- MIKC:
-
MADS-box intermediate keratin-like C-terminal domain structure
- PAGE:
-
polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
References
Alvarez-Buylla, E.R., Pelaz, S., Liljegren, S.J., Gold, S.E., Burgeff, C., Ditta, G.S., Ribas de Pouplana, L., Martinez-Castilla, L., Yanofsky, M.F.: An ancestral MADS-box gene duplication occurred before the divergence of plants and animals.-Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. USA 97: 5328–5333, 2000.
Angenent, G.C., Franken, J., Busscher, M., Colombo, L., Van Tunen, A.J.: Petal and stamen formation in petunia is regulated by the homeotic gene fbp1.-Plant J. 4: 101–112, 1993.
Boss, P.K., Vivier, M., Matsumoto, S., Dry, I.B., Thomas, M.R.: A cDNA from grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.), which shows homology to AGAMOUS and SHATTERPROOF, is not only expressed in flowers but also throughout berry development.-Plant mol. Biol. 45: 541–553, 2001.
Ferrario, S., Immink, R.G., Angenent, G.C.: Conservation and diversity in flower land.-Curr. Opinion Plant Biol. 7: 84–91, 2004.
Immink, R.G., Gadella, T.W., Jr., Ferrario, S., Busscher, M., Angenent, G.C.: Analysis of MADS box protein-protein interactions in living plant cells.-Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 2416–2421, 2002.
Kang, H.G., Noh, Y.S., Chung, Y.Y., Costa, M.A., An, K., An, G.: Phenotypic alterations of petal and sepal by ectopic expression of a rice MADS box gene in tobacco.-Plant mol. Biol. 29: 1–10, 1995.
Kempin, S.A., Mandel, M.A., Yanofsky, M.F.: Conversion of perianth into reproductive organs by ectopic expression of the tobacco floral homeotic gene NAG1.-Plant Physiol. 103: 1041–1046, 1993.
Kim, S.H., Mizuno, K., Fujimura, T.: Isolation of MADS-box genes from sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) expressed specifically in vegetative tissues.-Plant Cell Physiol. 43: 314–322, 2002.
Kitahara, K., Matsumoto, S.: Rose MADS-box genes ‘MASAKO C1 and D1’ homologous to class C floral identity genes.-Plant Sci. 151: 121–134, 2000.
Kumar, S., Tamura, K., Jakobsen, I.B., Nei, M.: MEGA2: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis software.-Bioinformatics 17: 1244–1245, 2001.
Lorkovic, Z.J., Wieczorek, Kirk, D.A., Lambermon, M.H., Filipowicz, W.: Pre-mRNA splicing in higher plants.-Trends Plant Sci. 5: 160–167, 2000.
Mandel, M.A., Bowman, J.L., Kempin, S.A., Ma, H., Meyerowitz, E.M., Yanofsky, M.F.: Manipulation of flower structure in transgenic tobacco.-Cell 71: 133–143, 1992.
Nam, J., dePamphilis, C.W., Ma, H., Nei, M.: Antiquity and evolution of the MADS-box gene family controlling flower development in plants.-Mol. Biol. Evol. 20: 1435–1447, 2003.
Pnueli, L., Hareven, D., Rounsley, S.D., Yanofsky, M.F., Lifschitz, E.: Isolation of the tomato AGAMOUS gene TAG1 and analysis of its homeotic role in transgenic plants.-Plant Cell 6: 163–173, 1994.
Rigola, D., Pe, M.E., Fabrizio, C., Me, G., Sari-Gorla, M.: CaMADS1, a MADS box gene expressed in the carpel of hazelnut.-Plant mol. Biol. 38: 1147–1160, 1998.
Rounsley, S.D., Ditta, G.S., Yanofsky, M.F.: Diverse roles for MADS box genes in Arabidopsis development.-Plant Cell 7: 1259–1269, 1995.
Saitou, N., Nei, M.: The neighbor-joining method: a new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees.-Mol. Biol. Evol. 4: 406–425, 1987.
Schmidt, R.J., Veit, B., Mandel, M.A., Mena, M., Hake, S., Yanofsky, M.F.: Identification and molecular characterization of ZAG1, the maize homolog of the Arabidopsis floral homeotic gene AGAMOUS.-Plant Cell 5: 729–737, 1993.
Theissen, G.: Development of floral organ identity: stories from the MADS house.-Curr. Opinion Plant Biol. 4: 75–85, 2001.
Theissen, G., Becker, A., Di Rosa, A., Kanno, A., Kim, J.T., Munster, T., Winter, K.U., Saedler, H.: A short history of MADS-box genes in plants.-Plant mol. Biol. 42: 115–149, 2000.
Theissen, G., Strater, T., Fischer, A. and Saedler, H.: Structural characterization, chromosomal localization and phylogenetic evaluation of two pairs of AGAMOUS-like MADS-box genes from maize.-Gene 156: 155–166, 1995.
Thompson, J.D., Higgins, D.G., Gibson, T.J.: CLUSTAL W: improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, position-specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice.-Nucl. Acids Res. 22: 4673–4680, 1994.
Tsaftaris, A.S., Pasentsis, K., Iliopoulos, I., Polidoros, A.N.: Isolation of three homologous AP1-like MADS-box genes in crocus (Crocus sativus L.) and characterization of their expression.-Plant Sci. 166: 1235–1243, 2004.
Tsuchimoto, S., Van der Krol, A.R., Chua, N.H.: Ectopic expression of pMADS3 in transgenic petunia phenocopies the petunia blind mutant.-Plant Cell 5: 843–853, 1993.
Van der Linden, C.G., Vosman, B., Smulders, M.J.: Cloning and characterization of four apple MADS box genes isolated from vegetative tissue.-J. exp. Bot. 53: 1025–1036, 2002.
Weigel, D., Meyerowitz, E.M.: The ABCs of floral homeotic genes.-Cell 78: 203–209, 1994.
Yanofsky, M.F., Ma, H., Bowman, J.L., Drews, G.N., Feldmann, K.A., Meyerowitz, E.M.: The protein encoded by the Arabidopsis homeotic gene agamous resembles transcription factors.-Nature 346: 35–39, 1990.
Yu, D., Kotilainen, M., Pollanen, E., Mehto, M., Elomaa, P., Helariutta, Y., Albert, V.A., Teeri, T.H.: Organ identity genes and modified patterns of flower development in Gerbera hybrida (Asteraceae).-Plant J. 17: 51–62, 1999.
Zhang, P., Tan, H.T., Pwee, K.H., Kumar, P.P.: Conservation of class C function of floral organ development during 300 million years of evolution from gymnosperms to angiosperms.-Plant J. 37: 566–577, 2004.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tsaftaris, A.S., Pasentsis, K. & Polidoros, A.N. Isolation of a differentially spliced C-type flower specific AG-like MADS-box gene from Crocus sativus and characterization of its expression. Biol Plant 49, 499–504 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-005-0041-6
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-005-0041-6