Evolutionary walks through flower colour space driven by gene expression in Petunia and allies (Petunieae).

ABSTRACT: The structure and function of biochemical and developmental pathways determine the range of accessible phenotypes, which are the substrate for evolutionary change. Accordingly, we expect that observed phenotypic variation across species is strongly influenced by pathway structure, with different phenotypes arising due to changes in activity along pathway branches. Here, we use flower colour as a model to investigate how the structure of pigment pathways shapes the evolution of phenotypic diversity. We focus on the phenotypically diverse Petunieae clade in the nightshade family, which contains ca 180 species of Petunia and related genera, as a model to understand how flavonoid pathway gene expression maps onto pigment production. We use multivariate comparative methods to esti

SUBMITTER: Wheeler LC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10320354 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature