%ALu, Haiwei [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA]%ALu, Haiwei [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA]%AKlocko, Amy [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA, Department of Biology University of Colorado Colorado Springs Colorado Springs CO 80918 USA]%AKlocko, Amy [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA, Department of Biology University of Colorado Colorado Springs Colorado Springs CO 80918 USA]%ABrunner, Amy [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA, Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation Virginia Tech Blacksburg VA 24061 USA]%ABrunner, Amy [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA, Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation Virginia Tech Blacksburg VA 24061 USA]%AMa, Cathleen [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA]%AMa, Cathleen [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA]%AMagnuson, Anna [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA]%AMagnuson, Anna [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA]%AHowe, Glenn [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA]%AHowe, Glenn [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA]%AAn, Xinmin [National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Beijing Forestry University Beijing 100083 China]%AAn, Xinmin [National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Beijing Forestry University Beijing 100083 China]%AStrauss, Steven [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA]%AStrauss, Steven [Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis OR 97331 USA]%BJournal Name: New Phytologist; Journal Volume: 222; Journal Issue: 2; Related Information: CHORUS Timestamp: 2023-09-01 12:38:00 %D2019%IWiley-Blackwell %JJournal Name: New Phytologist; Journal Volume: 222; Journal Issue: 2; Related Information: CHORUS Timestamp: 2023-09-01 12:38:00 %K %MOSTI ID: 10083624 %PMedium: X %TRNA interference suppression of AGAMOUS and SEEDSTICK alters floral organ identity and impairs floral organ determinacy, ovule differentiation, and seed‐hair development in Populus %XSummary

The role of the floral homeotic geneAGAMOUS(AG) and its close homologues in development of anemophilous, unisexual catkins has not previously been studied.

We transformed twoRNAinterference (RNAi) constructs,PTGand its matrix‐attachment‐region flanked versionMPG, into the early‐flowering female poplar clone 6K10 (Populus alba) to suppress the expression of its two duplicateAGorthologues.

By early 2018, six out of 22 floweringPTGevents and 11 out of 12 floweringMPGevents showed modified floral phenotypes in a field trial in Oregon,USA. Flowers in catkins from modified events had ‘carpel‐inside‐carpel’ phenotypes. Complete disruption of seed production was observed in seven events, and sterile anther‐like organs in 10 events. Events with strong co‐suppression of both the twoAGand twoSEEDSTICK(STK) paralogues lacked both seeds and associated seed hairs. Alterations in all of the modified floral phenotypes were stable over 4 yr of study. Trees from floral‐modified events did not differ significantly (< 0.05) from nonmodified transgenic or nontransgenic controls in biomass growth or leaf morphology.

AGandSTKgenes show strong conservation of gene function during poplar catkin development and are promising targets for genetic containment of exotic or genetically engineered trees.

%0Journal Article