Abstract
We have isolated bisexual (R025) and asexual (K034) mutants of Silene latifolia and analyzed them using in situ hybridization of SlSTM (SHOOT MERISTEMLESS) 1 and 2, SlCUC (CUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON), and SlCLV1 (CLAVATA1). They would control the gynoecium suppression pathway in the early-stage of sexual differentiation in R025 and K034. Particularity, K034 produces asexual and imperfect female (female-like) flowers on one individual. In the in situ hybridization, two kinds of expression patterns were observed prior to any morphological differentiation as male or female. In K034, 14.3% of flowers were female type and the rest were male, corresponding to the frequency of female-like flowers. Male- and female- type expression patterns of SlSTM, SlCUC, and SlCLV1 corresponded to carpel suppression patterns, suggesting that the mutation(s) responsible for gynoecium suppression acts upstream of the pathway involved in SlSTM, SlCUC, and SlCLV1, and switches carpel suppression patterns at a constant rate.
