open-flower mutant of Melilotus alba: Potential for floral-dip transformation of a papilionoid legume with a short life cycle?

This paper describes an open-flower mutant, designated opf, that we discovered in a genetic screen of fast neutron bombardment mutants in an attempt at floral-dip transformation of Melilotus alba (Fabaceae; white sweetclover), an alternative papilionoid legume host for Sinorhizobium meliloti. The op...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of botany 2010-03, Vol.97 (3), p.395-404
Main Authors: Hirsch, Ann M, Lee, Angie, Deng, Weimin, Tucker, Shirley C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agrobacterium tumefaciens
Anthers
Botany
Calyx
Carpels
Developmental Biology and Developmental Genetics
Fabaceae
Flowers
Flowers & plants
Genetics
indehiscent anthers
Inflorescences
legume transformation
Legumes
Life cycles
Melilotus alba
Mutation
open‐flower mutant
opf mutant
Ovules
papilionoid legume
Phenotypes
Plants
Stamens
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Summary:This paper describes an open-flower mutant, designated opf, that we discovered in a genetic screen of fast neutron bombardment mutants in an attempt at floral-dip transformation of Melilotus alba (Fabaceae; white sweetclover), an alternative papilionoid legume host for Sinorhizobium meliloti. The opf mutant developed flowers with reflexed sepals and petals, thereby exposing the stamens and carpel, whereas wild-type sweetclover inflorescences developed closed flowers where the young stamens and carpel remain covered during the early stages of flower development. Based on crosses with the wild type, the mutant segregated as a single, Mendelian recessive. Crosses were successful only when the opf mutant served as the female parent, suggesting that the mutant was male sterile. However, no obvious differences from wild-type stamen development were observed in the opf mutant. The anther defect was due to indehiscence. However, as the plants approached the end of their life cycle, the frequency of selfing increased. We also investigated whether the opf mutant could be transformed via Agrobacterium tumefaciens floral-dip infiltration because open flowers like those of Arabidopsis appear to be more readily transformable. However, similar to wild-type M. alba, the opf mutant is refractory to floral-dip transformation by Agrobacterium tumefaciens.
ISSN:0002-9122
1537-2197
DOI:10.3732/ajb.0900152