Analyses of Two Torenia Mutants Exhibiting a Class B-Function-Deficient Phenotype

Abstract

We have applied heavy-ion beam irradiation to torenia (Torenia fournieri) for adding useful traits. Among them, we found two mutants, which exhibited a B-function-deficient phenotype in which the second whorls were changed into sepals. RT-PCR analysis of the torenia class B genes, TfGLO and TfDEF, revealed that the expression of TfGLO was not detected in these mutants. Because the genomic sequences of the TfGLO gene including promoter region in both mutants had no effective mutation, we thought that the defection of the TfGLO expression was caused by a deficiency in the upstream signaling. Since APETALA1, LEAFY and UFO have been reported to participate in the expression of class B genes in Arabidopsis, we examined their expression in the mutants. The result indicated that only UFO expression was diminished in the two mutants.
This study is supported by the Research Project for Utilizing Advanced Technologies in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.