Same flower gene acts differently in petal's skin versus inside
Plant Signaling
The ruffled or smooth texture you notice on petunia petals comes down to a single gene flipping different switches depending on whether it's working in the surface cells or the inner tissue, a detail breeders rely on to shape flower form.
Petunia petals are built from separate layers of cells, like the skin and flesh of a fruit, and this study shows that one key 'petal-building' gene controls completely different sets of instructions depending on which layer it's working in. The gene turns out to be far more active and influential in the outer skin layer than in the inner tissue, explaining why disrupting it in one layer versus the other produces very different-looking petals.
Key Findings
PhDEF regulates distinct sets of target genes in the petal epidermis versus the mesophyll, identified via single-cell RNA-Seq combined with chromatin immunoprecipitation
PhDEF shows far more extensive DNA binding activity in the epidermis than in the mesophyll, indicating a layer-biased regulatory role
Target gene binding profiles are highly diverse, including layer-specific and shared binding sites, showing cell layer identity shapes how a homeotic gene exerts control
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found that the gene controlling petunia petal identity acts mostly in the outer skin layer of petals, not the inner tissue, revealing that the same gene can behave very differently depending on which cell layer it's active in.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
The petal identity gene PhDEF has a major binding and regulatory action in the epidermis
ABSTRACT In flowering plants, floral organ identity is specified by the combinatorial action of homeotic genes. While the role of these genes in the early specification of organ identity is well es...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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Petunia is a genus of 20 species of flowering plants of South American origin. The popular flower of the same name derived its epithet from the French, which took the word pétun, 'tobacco', from a Tupi–Guarani language. A tender perennial plant, most of the varieties seen in gardens are hybrids.