Parthenocarpic apple fruit production conferred by transposon insertion mutations in a MADS-box transcription factor.

ABSTRACT: Fruit development in higher plants normally requires pollination and fertilization to stimulate cell division of specific floral tissues. In some cases, parthenocarpic fruit development proceeds without either pollination or fertilization. Parthenocarpic fruit without seed has higher commercial value than seeded fruit. Several apple (Malus domestica) mutants (Rae Ime, Spencer Seedless and Wellington Bloomless) are known to produce only apetalous flowers that readily go on to develop into parthenocarpic fruit. Through genetics, a single recessive gene has been identified to control this trait in apple. Flower phenotypes of these apple mutants are strikingly similar to those of the Arabidopsis mutant pistillata (pi), which produces flowers where petals are transformed to sepals and stamens t

SUBMITTER: Yao J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC14750 | biostudies-literature | 2001 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature