A conserved mutation in an ethylene biosynthesis enzyme leads to andromonoecy in melons.
Andromonoecy is a widespread sexual system in angiosperms characterized by plants carrying both male and bisexual flowers. In melon, this sexual form is controlled by the identity of the alleles at the andromonoecious (a) locus. Cloning of the a gene reveals that andromonoecy results from a mutation in the active site of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid synthase. Expression of the active enzyme inhibits the development of the male organs and is not required for carpel development. A causal single-nucleotide polymorphism associated with andromonoecy was identified, which suggests that the a allele has been under recent positive selection and may be linked to the evolution of this sexual system.
Boualem
Adnane
A
INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique)-CNRS, UMR1165, Unité de Recherche en Génomique Végétale, 2 rue Gaston Crémieux, F-91057 Evry, France.
Fergany
Mohamed
M
Fernandez
Ronan
R
Troadec
Christelle
C
Martin
Antoine
A
Morin
Halima
H
Sari
Marie-Agnes
MA
Collin
Fabrice
F
Flowers
Jonathan M
JM
Pitrat
Michel
M
Purugganan
Michael D
MD
Dogimont
Catherine
C
Bendahmane
Abdelhafid
A
D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D028463:Cucumis melo / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D017343:Genes, Plant; D006239:Haplotypes; D008190:Lyases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010802:Phylogeny; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D008190:Lyases; C021773:1-aminocyclopropanecarboxylate synthase