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Abstract Detail

Evolutionary Developmental Biology (Evo-Devo)

Maheepala, Dinusha [1], Macon, Jenna [2], Herrera, Victor [2], Litt, Amy [1].

FRUITFULL genes underwent a change in function correlated with the evolution of fleshy fruit.

Fleshy fruits are an ecologically and economically important commodity that have evolved multiple times during the evolution of angiosperms. However, we know little about the genetic and molecular basis of fleshy fruit evolution. In Solanaceae (nightshades), dry fruits are plesiomorphic and fleshy fruits are derived, but the family also shows independent origins of fleshy fruit and reversion to dry. Along with the availability of multiple genome sequences and the ability of manipulating gene function, this makes Solanaceae an ideal system for studying the evolution of fleshy fruit. The FRUITFULL (FUL) gene is important for patterning the lignified dehiscence zone in the dry silique in Arabidopsis. A whole genome duplication coinciding with the diversification of core-eudicots resulted in two FUL gene clades: euFULI and euFULII. Solanaceae have two gene copies in each clade with a high degree of sequence similarity. FUL homologs have similar broad expression patterns in vegetative and reproductive tissue in both dry- and fleshy-fruited Solanaceae species. A study has shown that the overexpression of a FUL homolog in tobacco results in an indehiscent fruit suggesting FUL homologs may have a conserved role in dry fruit development. The fleshy berry of tomato lacks lignified tissue but the FUL homologs are expressed here too. This suggests a change in FUL function in fleshy fruit. Several studies have looked at FUL function in tomato development but the results have been contradictory leaving open the question of the role of these developmental regulators, and how that role changed with the evolution of fleshy fruit. We are creating single, double, and quadruple knockout mutants in tomato using CRISPR/Cas9 to understand how each FUL homolog functions in fleshy fruit development, and how these functions may have changed in the shift to fleshy fruit. Since tomato has undergone domestication, we are also studying the function of the FUL homologs in its closest wild relative, Solanum pimpinellifolium, a species that has not been extensively artificially selected, and that is a closer representation of a wild-type Solanoideae berry. We will present our data on our transformants.

1 - University of California, Riverside, Botany and Plant Sciences
2 - University of California, Riverside

Keywords:
Fruit
evodevo
Solanaceae
CRISPR/Cas9
transcriptomes
FRUITFULL
FUL1
FUL2
MBP10
MBP20.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Evolutionary Developmental Biology (Evo-Devo)
Location: Exhibit Hall/Omni Hotel
Date: Monday, June 26th, 2017
Time: 5:30 PM This poster will be presented at 6:15 pm. The Poster Session runs from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Posters with odd poster numbers are presented at 5:30 pm, and posters with even poster numbers are presented at 6:15 pm.
Number: PEV002
Abstract ID:396
Candidate for Awards:Katherine Esau Award,Developmental and Structural Section best poster