title: Sex determination in dioecious Silene latifolia. Effects of the Y chromosome and the parasitic smut fungus (Ustilago violacea) on gene expression during flower development.
abstract: We have embarked on a molecular cloning approach to the investigation of sex determination in Silene latifolia Poiret, a dioecious plant species with morphologically distinguishable sex chromosomes. One of our key objectives was to define a range of genes that are up-regulated in male plants in response to Y chromosome sex-determination genes. Here we present the characterization of eight male-specific cDNA sequences and classify these according to their expression dynamics to provide a range of molecular markers for dioecious male flower development. Genetically female S. latifolia plants undergo a partial sex reversal in response to infection by the parasitic smut fungus Ustilago violacea. This phenomenon has been exploited in these studies; male-specific cDNAs have been further categorized as inducible or noninducible in female plants by smut fungus infection. Analysis of the organ-specific expression of male-specific probes in male and female flowers has also identified a gene that is regulated in a sex-specific manner in nonreproductive floral tissues common to both male and female plants. This observation provides, to our knowledge, the first molecular marker for dominant effect of the Y chromosome in nonreproductive floral organs.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Leeds, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Scutt
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Willis
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Gilmartin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000737:chemistry*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D015723:Gene Library; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D012732:Sex Determination Analysis; D014588:Ustilago / Q000502:physiology*; D014998:Y Chromosome
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D018744:DNA, Plant; D010940:Plant Proteins