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Abstract Nectar guide trichomes play crucial ecological roles in bee-pollinated flowers, as they serve as footholds and guides for foraging bees to access the floral rewards. However, the genetic basis of natural variation in nectar guide trichomes among species remains poorly understood. In this study, we performed genetic analysis of nectar guide trichome variation between two closely related monkeyflower (Mimulus) species, the bumblebee-pollinatedMimulus lewisiiand self-pollinatedM. parishii. We demonstrate that aMIXTA-likeR2R3-MYBgene,GUIDELESS, is a major contributor to the nectar guide trichome length variation between the two species. The short-hairedM. parishiicarries a recessive allele due to non-synonymous substitutions in a highly conserved motif among MIXTA-like MYB proteins. Furthermore, our results suggest that besidesGUIDELESS, additional loci encoding repressors of trichome elongation also contribute to the transition from bumblebee-pollination to selfing. Taken together, these results suggest that during a pollination syndrome switch, changes in seemingly complex traits such as nectar guide trichomes could have a relatively simple genetic basis, involving just a few genes of large effects.
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Comparative analysis of corolla tube development across three closely related Mimulus species with different pollination syndromes
Abstract Fusion of petals to form a corolla tube is considered a key innovation contributing to the diversification of many flowering plant lineages. Corolla tube length often varies dramatically among species and is a major determinant of pollinator preference. However, our understanding of the developmental dynamics underlying corolla tube length variation is very limited. Here we examined corolla tube growth in theMimulus lewisiispecies complex, an emerging model system for studying the developmental genetics and evo‐devo of pollinator‐associated floral traits. We compared developmental and cellular processes associated with corolla tube length variation among the bee‐pollinatedM. lewisii, the hummingbird‐pollinatedMimulus verbenaceus, and the self‐pollinatedMimulus parishii. We found that in all three species, cell size is non‐uniformly distributed along the mature tube, with the longest cells just distal to the stamen insertion site. Differences in corolla tube length among the three species are not associated with processes of organogenesis or early development but are associated with variation in multiple processes occurring later in development, including the location and duration of cell division and cell elongation. The tube growth curves of the small‐floweredM. parishiiand large‐floweredM. lewisiiare essentially indistinguishable, except thatM. parishiitubes stop growing earlier at a smaller size, suggesting a critical role of heterochrony in the shift from outcrossing to selfing. These results not only highlight the developmental process associated with corolla tube variation among species but also provide a baseline reference for future developmental genetic analyses of mutants or transgenic plants with altered corolla tube morphology in this emerging model system.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1755373
- PAR ID:
- 10452604
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Evolution & Development
- Volume:
- 23
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 1520-541X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 244-255
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Summary Pollination syndromes are a key component of flowering plant diversification, prompting questions about the architecture of single traits and genetic coordination among traits. Here, we investigate the genetics of extreme floral divergence between naturally hybridizing monkeyflowers,Mimulus parishii(self‐pollinated) andM. cardinalis(hummingbird‐pollinated).We mapped quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for 18 pigment, pollinator reward/handling, and dimensional traits in parallel sets of F2hybrids plus recombinant inbred lines and generated nearly isogenic lines (NILs) for two dimensional traits, pistil length and corolla size.Our multi‐population approach revealed a highly polygenic basis (n = 190 QTLs total) for pollination syndrome divergence, capturing minor QTLs even for pigment traits with leading major loci. There was significant QTL overlap within pigment and dimensional categories. Nectar volume QTLs clustered with those for floral dimensions, suggesting a partially shared module. The NILs refined two pistil length QTLs, only one of which has tightly correlated effects on other dimensional traits.An overall polygenic architecture of floral divergence is partially coordinated by genetic modules formed by linkage (pigments) and likely pleiotropy (dimensions plus nectar). This work illuminates pollinator syndrome diversification in a model radiation and generates a robust framework for molecular and ecological genomics.more » « less
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