ORIGIN OF RECOGNITION COMPLEX 3 controls the development of maternal excess endosperm in the Paspalum simplex agamic complex (Poaceae).

Pseudogamous apomixis in Paspalum simplex generates seeds with embryos genetically identical to the mother plant and endosperms deviating from the canonical 2(maternal):1(paternal) parental genome contribution into a maternal excess 4m:1p genome ratio. In P. simplex, the gene homologous to that coding for subunit 3 of the ORIGIN OF RECOGNITION COMPLEX (PsORC3) exists in three isogenic forms: PsORC3a is apomixis specific and constitutively expressed in developing endosperm whereas PsORCb and PsORCc are up-regulated in sexual endosperms and silenced in apomictic ones. This raises the question of how the different arrangement and expression profiles of these three ORC3 isogenes are linked to seed development in interploidy crosses generating maternal excess endosperms. We demonstrate that down-regulation of PsORC3b in sexual tetraploid plants is sufficient to restore seed fertility in interploidy 4n×2n crosses and, in turn, its expression level at the transition from proliferating to endoreduplication endosperm developmental stages dictates the fate of these seeds. Furthermore, we show that only when being maternally inherited can PsORC3c up-regulate PsORC3b. Our findings lay the basis for an innovative route-based on ORC3 manipulation-to introgress the apomictic trait into sexual crops and overcome the fertilization barriers in interploidy crosses.

Influence of Continuous Spectrum Light on Morphological Traits and Leaf Anatomy of Hazelnut Plantlets.

Light spectra influence growth, development, and quality of plants and seedlings, that is one of the main aspects engaging the interests of private and public researchers and nursery industries. Propagation of hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.), which in the past has been held in low consideration because of the widespread use of rooted suckers directly collected in the field, today is taking on increasing interest due to the strong expansion of hazelnut cultivation. In order to improve the quality of plants and seedlings in greenhouse acclimatization, the effects of light emitting diodes (LED) lights during the ex vitro growth of two hazelnut cultivars (Tonda di Giffoni and Tonda Gentile Romana) were investigated. Plantlets were maintained in a growth chamber and exposed to three different continuous spectrum LED systems as a primary source of illumination and to fluorescent lamps used as control. LEDs differed in the percentage of some wavelength ranges in the spectrum, being AP673L rich in green and red wavelengths, NS1 in blue and green light, G2 in red and far red wavelengths. After a 4-week experimental period, morphometric, biochemical, and histological analyses were carried out. Shoot and leaf growths were influenced by LEDs more than by fluorescent lamps in both cultivars. G2 positively affected biomass increment more than the other LEDs, by inducing not only cell elongation (increase in shoot length, new internodes length, leaf area) but also cell proliferation (increase in new node number). G2 exposure had negative effects on total chlorophyll content but positively affected synthesis of flavonoids in both varieties; therefore, plants grown under this LED showed the lowest nitrogen balance index. Leaf morpho-anatomical analyzed traits (thickness, palisade cell height, number of chloroplasts, number of palisade cells), were influenced especially by G2 and, to a less extent, by NS1 light. Significant differences in some parameters were observed between the two cultivars in response to a same light source. The results obtained underline the importance of light modulation for hazelnut, providing useful information for ex vitro growth of hazelnut plantlets.

An AFLP marker tightly linked to apomixis reveals hemizygosity in a portion of the apomixis-controlling locus in Paspalum simplex.

A mapping population of Paspalum simplex segregating for apomixis (asexual reproduction through seeds) was screened with AFLPs to find apomixis-linked markers. Four AFLPs linked to apomixis in coupling phase were found. Three of them did not show recombinants among the 87 individuals of the mapping population, whereas the other was more loosely linked. Integrating the AFLP data with those obtained previously with rice RFLP anchor markers, a map was drawn for the chromosome region of P. simplex encompassing apomixis. We cloned the three AFLPs tightly linked with apomixis into plasmid vectors and used them as probes to hybridize the restriction digested DNA of the mapping population. Two of them revealed RFLP bands linked to apomixis together with other alleles, whereas one was proven to belong to a hemizygous portion of the apomixis locus. The total picture resulting from AFLP and RFLP analyses was that a cluster of markers tightly linked with apomixis was detected in P simplex together with two other markers that were more loosely linked. These two markers enclosed a relatively large chromosome segment characterized by strong repression of recombination. The block of recombination may have caused sequence divergence and, therefore, hemizygosity of some regions belonging to the apomixis-controlling chromosome segment of P. simplex. The potential of developing an apomixis-specific sequence for screening large-fragment libraries for the physical isolation of the locus encompassing apomixis is discussed.