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Suggested Reference
Simons, J. L., Templeton, K. R., Plummer, K., Beveridge, C. A., & Snowden, K.
C. (2005). Characterisation of the Genetic Controls of Branching in Petunia.
Poster session presented at the meeting of Mechanisms of Genetic Variation.
Snowbird Resort and Conference Centre, Snowbird, Utah.
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Plant Genetics 2005: Mechanisms of Genetic Variation Poster Abstract
Number: 96
Title: Characterisation of the Genetic and Hormonal Controls of Branching in Petunia Authors: Joanne Simons, HortResearch and The University of Auckland, New Zealand. Kerry Templeton, HortResearch, Auckland New Zealand. Kim Plummer, The University of Auckland, New Zealand. Christine Beveridge, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Kimberley Snowden, HortResearch, Auckland, New Zealand.
Branching is a fundamental process affecting plant form and is a source of much of the wide variety of plant architecture seen in nature. Our aim is to understand the function of genes involved in branching using petunia as a model system. This research involves the study of the decreased apical dominance (dad) mutants in petunia, which have increased basal branching compared with wild type. It also involves the investigation of genes known to affect branching in other plant species to discover their effects in petunia. One of these genes, MAX2, was identified from an increased branching mutant in Arabidopsis, and its effects in petunia are being investigated by misexpression of the petunia orthologue. Previous grafting experiments using the dad mutants in petunia have shown that a graft-transmissible signal is involved in causing the increased branching phenotype.
Hormones are graft-transmissible chemicals and variation in their levels play important roles in the control of apical dominance, one of the most studied controls in lateral branching. Auxin and cytokinin levels in dad mutant and wild type plants were investigated, but the levels of these hormones were not consistent with them being the graft-transmissible signal modified by the DAD genes. In order to investigate the relationships between the DAD genes, the branching phenotypes of the single and double dad mutants were characterised and analysed. Grafting experiments to investigate the interactions between the DAD genes in controlling the branching signal were also undertaken. This work has revealed interactions between the DAD genes and provided evidence for the order of action of these genes.