The paleoAP3-type gene CpAP3, an ancestral B-class gene from the basal angiosperm Chimonanthus praecox, can affect stamen and petal development in higher eudicots.

Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox), a basal angiosperm endemic to China, has high ornamental value for developing beautiful flowers with strong fragrance. The molecular mechanism regulating flower development in wintersweet remains largely elusive. In this project, we seek to determine the molecular features and expression patterns of the C. praecox paleoAP3-type gene CpAP3 and examine its potential role in regulating floral development via ectopic expression in Arabidopsis thaliana and Petunia hybrida. The expression of CpAP3 is tissue-specific, with the highest level in the tepals, moderate level in carpels, and weak levels in stamen and vegetative stem tissues. Its dynamic expression during flowering is associated with flower-bud formation. Ectopic expression of CpAP3 partially rescued stamen development in ap3 mutant Arabidopsis. Although no phenotypic effect has been observed in wild-type Arabidopsis, CpAP3 overexpression in petunia brought rich morphological changes and homeotic conversions to flowers, mainly involving disruption of petal and stamen development. Expressed in a broader range than those canonical B-function regulators, the ancestral B-class gene CpAP3 can affect petal and stamen development in higher eudicots. This gene also holds some bioengineering potential in creating novel floral germplasms.

Molecular diversity and differential expression of starch-synthesis genes in developing kernels of three maize inbreds.

The maize genome remains abundant in molecular diversity, and the rich genetic diversity of maize starch-synthesis genes is crucial for controlling various grain traits. To explore the unique mechanism controlling the advantageous waxy trait and characterize the molecular feature of genes relevant to starch composition in two elite waxy inbreds, expression profiling combined with gene organization analysis was performed in them as compared to one normal inbred. Genotype-specific expression patterns were observed for most genes studied. The waxy inbreds were shown to contain mutations in multiple starch-synthesis genes, namely gbssI (wx), gbssIIb and isa2 (potentially isa3 too).The mis-splicing events directly accounted for wx loss of function. Contrarily, disruption of 5' and 3' transcript sequence may contribute to the absence of GbssIIb and Isa2 transcripts in waxy inbreds, respectively. Besides, the splicing of Sugary1 transcript was developmentally regulated in the normal inbred, and DNA polymorphisms were detected within SSIIIb-1 gene in waxy inbreds.

[Chinese waxy elites SW70 and SW22 are revealed to be new multimutants of starch-synthesis enzyme coding genes].

Waxy maize (wx) is a type of spontaneous starch mutant as compared to wild type foodstuff maize (Wx). The mechanisms underlying waxy maize kernel development are intricate and diversified. Here we characterized the expression of 21 genes belonging to four families, i.e., ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase), starch synthase (SS), starch branching enzyme (SBE) and starch debranching enzyme (DBE) in the developing kernels of waxy maize inbred SW22, SW70 and relative wild type inbred 5003 at 1, 2 and 4 weeks after pollination. Dynamic expression pattern of a number of genes in developing kernels of SW22 were different from that in 5003 and SW70. Besides, obvious presence of wx transcripts in SW22 and SW70 were observed, though at the level lower than that in wild type 5003. Unexpectedly, the transcripts of Gbssllb and isoamylase-type DBE coding gene Iso2 were completely absent in SW22 and SW70. The above observation prompted the hypothesis that partial or complete loss-of-function of Wx, and/or there exist lose-of-function of uncharacterized gene (s) important for amylose synthesis in SW22 such as GbssIIb and Iso2, which may account for the absence of amylose accumulation in SW22.