Abstract
A floral organ mutant was observed in transgenic Medicago truncatula Gaertn. plants that had two separate stigmas borne on two separate styles that emerged from a single superior carpel primordium. We propose the name bi-pistil, bip for the mutation. We believe this is the first report of such a mutation in this species. Genetic and molecular analyses of the mutant were conducted. The mutant plant was crossed to a mtapetala plant with a wild-type pistil. Expression of the mutant trait in the F1 and F2 generations indicates that the bi-pistil trait is under the control of a single recessive gene. Other modifying genes may influence its expression. The mutation was associated with the presence of a T-DNA insert consisting of the Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) coat protein gene in antisense orientation and the nptII selectable marker gene. It is suggested that the mutation is due to gene disruption because multiple copies of the T-DNA were observed in the mutant. The bi-pistil gene was found to be independent of the male-sterile gene, tap. This novel mutant may assist in understanding pistil development in legumes.
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Acknowledgments
Dr. Douglas Cook and Dr. Varma Penmetsa, University of California, Davis kindly provided seed of the tap plants. We thank Dr. Peter Self, Dr. Meredith Wallwork, Ms. Lyn Waterhouse, Ms. Ruth-Ellen Williams and Mr. Angus Netting, Adelaide Microscopy for their valuable assistance in microscopy studies and Dr. Ursula Langridge for her help in maintaining the plants at the glasshouse facility. Mention of a trademark, proprietary product or vendor does not constitute a guarantee or warranty of the product by the USDA, and it does not imply its approval to the exclusion of other products and vendors that might also be suitable.
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Communicated by Scott Russell.
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Nair, R.M., Peck, D.M., Dundas, I.S. et al. Morphological characterisation and genetic analysis of a bi-pistil mutant (bip) in Medicago truncatula Gaertn.. Sex Plant Reprod 21, 133–141 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-008-0073-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-008-0073-0