title: Characterization of a Crabs Claw Gene in basal eudicot species Epimedium sagittatum (Berberidaceae).
abstract: The Crabs Claw (CRC) YABBY gene is required for regulating carpel development in angiosperms and has played an important role in nectary evolution during core eudicot speciation. The function or expression of CRC-like genes has been explored in two basal eudicots, Eschscholzia californica and Aquilegia formosa. To further investigate the function of CRC orthologous genes related to evolution of carpel and nectary development in basal eudicots, a CRC ortholog, EsCRC, was isolated and characterized from Epimedium sagittatum (Sieb. and Zucc.) Maxim. A phylogenetic analysis of EsCRC and previously identified CRC-like genes placed EsCRC within the basal eudicot lineage. Gene expression results suggest that EsCRC is involved in the development of sepals and carpels, but not nectaries. Phenotypic complementation of the Arabidopsis mutant crc-1 was achieved by constitutive expression of EsCRC. In addition, over-expression of EsCRC in Arabidopsis and tobacco gave rise to abaxially curled leaves. Transgenic results together with the gene expression analysis suggest that EsCRC may maintain a conserved function in carpel development and also play a novel role related to sepal formation. Absence of EsCRC and ElCRC expression in nectaries further indicates that nectary development in non-core eudicots is unrelated to expression of CRC-like genes.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, Guangdong, China. huanghw@mail.scbg.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Zhineng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Hongwen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D034181:Epimedium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C119755:CRC protein, Arabidopsis; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors