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Evolution of petaloid sepals independent of shifts in B-class MADS box gene expression

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Abstract

Attractive petals are an integral component of animal-pollinated flowers and in many flowering plant species are restricted to the second floral whorl. Interestingly, multiple times during angiosperm evolution, petaloid characteristics have expanded to adjacent floral whorls or to extra-floral organs. Here, we investigate developmental characteristics of petaloid sepals in Rhodochiton atrosanguineum, a close relative of the model species Antirrhinum majus (snapdragon). We undertook this in two ways, first using scanning electron microscopy we investigate the micromorphology of petals and sepals, followed by expression studies of genes usually responsible for the formation of petaloid structures. From our data, we conclude that R. atrosanguineum petaloid sepals lack micromorphological characteristics of petals and that petaloid sepals did not evolve through regulatory evolution of B-class MADS box genes, which have been shown to specify second whorl petal identity in a number of model flowering plant species including snapdragon. These data, in conjunction with other studies, suggests multiple convergent pathways for the evolution of showy sepals.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Jill Preston for the assistance with lab work and discussions on early versions of this manuscript, Dr. David Moore and the imaging facility at the University of Kansas for the help with the SEMs, and Dr. Mark Mort and lab for the help with the phylogenetic analyses. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (grant IOS-0616025 to L.C.H.).

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  1. Jacob B. Landis

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32608, USA

  2. Laryssa L. Barnett

    Present address: Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Jacob B. Landis, Laryssa L. Barnett & Lena C. Hileman

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  1. Jacob B. Landis
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Landis, J.B., Barnett, L.L. & Hileman, L.C. Evolution of petaloid sepals independent of shifts in B-class MADS box gene expression. Dev Genes Evol 222, 19–28 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-011-0385-1

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