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Abstract Detail



Reproductive Processes

Goodwillie, Carol [1], Burch, Jacob [2], Stiller, John [3], Brewer, Michael [4].

Changes in gene expression with floral age in stigmas of a species with transient self-incompatibility.

Self-fertilization is prevented in many plant species by self-incompatibility, a genetic mechanism by which plants recognize and reject their own pollen. Self-incompatibility (SI) has evolved independently in multiple angiosperm lineages, but only a few systems have been studied at molecular or physiological levels. In particular, sporophytic SI, in which the pollen recognition phenotype is determined by the diploid genotype of the pollen parent, has been well characterized only in the Brassicaceae. Multiple distinct forms of SI have been reported in the Polemoniaceae family, including a sporophytic SI system in Leptosiphon, but nothing is known of the molecular basis of these systems. Leptosiphon jepsonii, a California annual, exhibits an unusual, transient form of SI in which flowers initially reject self-pollen but become capable of selfing after one or two days. This rapid functional transition provides an opportunity to use changes in stigma gene expression to identify proteins that may be important in either the self-incompatibility mechanism or in the developmental shift to selfing in older flowers. Here we report the findings of a preliminary RNA seq analysis of stigma tissues in flowers at day one and day three of anthesis, replicated across plants of three populations. Significant differences in gene expression were found for 68 mRNA sequences, of which some were upregulated and some downregulated in older flowers. Some of these appear to be novel, with no homologous sequences reported to date in other plant species. Ongoing analysis will characterize mRNA sequences to gain insights into gene expression in stigmas, flower senescence, and self-incompatibility mechanisms.


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1 - EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY, Department Of Biology, Mail Stop 551, GREENVILLE, NC, 27858, USA
2 - East Carolina University, Biology, Greenville, NC, 27858
3 - East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA
4 - East Carolina University, Biology, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

Keywords:
self-incompatibility
transcriptomic
RNA seq
gene expression
stigma.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 30, Reproductive Processes
Location: Fort Worth Ballroom 7/Omni Hotel
Date: Tuesday, June 27th, 2017
Time: 2:00 PM
Number: 30002
Abstract ID:73
Candidate for Awards:None


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