title: The genetic control of flower-pollinator specificity.
abstract: The ca. 275,000 species of flowering plants are the result of a recent adaptive radiation driven largely by the coevolution between plants and their animal pollinators. Identification of genes and mutations responsible for floral trait variation underlying pollinator specificity is crucial to understanding how pollinator shifts occur between closely related species. Petunia, Mimulus, and Antirrhinum have provided a high standard of experimental evidence to establish causal links from genes to floral traits to pollinator responses. In all three systems, MYB transcription factors seem to play a prominent role in the diversification of pollinator-associated floral traits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States.
authors.forename: Yao-Wu
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Kelsey J R P
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Byers
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D032161:Antirrhinum / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D032241:Mimulus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D032306:Petunia / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D054817:Pollination; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors