Genetic analysis of floral symmetry in Van Gogh's sunflowers reveals independent recruitment of CYCLOIDEA genes in the Asteraceae.

ABSTRACT: The genetic basis of floral symmetry is a topic of great interest because of its effect on pollinator behavior and, consequently, plant diversification. The Asteraceae, which is the largest family of flowering plants, is an ideal system in which to study this trait, as many species within the family exhibit a compound inflorescence containing both bilaterally symmetric (i.e., zygomorphic) and radially symmetric (i.e., actinomorphic) florets. In sunflower and related species, the inflorescence is composed of a single whorl of ray florets surrounding multiple whorls of disc florets. We show that in double-flowered (dbl) sunflower mutants (in which disc florets develop bilateral symmetry), such as those captured by Vincent van Gogh in his famous nineteenth-century sunflower paintings, an inse

SUBMITTER: Chapman MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3315478 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature