AUTHOR=Liu Wen , Shen Xiangling , Liang Hongwei , Wang Yubing , He Zhengquan , Zhang Dechun , Chen Faju 

TITLE=Isolation and Functional Analysis of PISTILLATA Homolog From Magnolia wufengensis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2018.01743

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2018.01743

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>PISTILLATA</italic> (<italic>PI</italic>) homologs are crucial regulators of flower development in angiosperms. In this study, we isolated the <italic>MAwuPI</italic> homolog from <italic>Magnolia wufengensis</italic>, a basal angiosperm belonging to the Magnoliaceae. Molecular phylogenetic analysis suggested that <italic>MAwuPI</italic> was grouped into the PI/GLO lineages of B-class MADS-box gene with the distinctive PI motif. Further expression profiling analysis showed that <italic>MAwuPI</italic> was expressed in tepals and stamens but not in juvenile leaves and carpels, similar to the spatial expression pattern of <italic>AtPI</italic> in Arabidopsis. Interestingly, <italic>MAwuPI</italic> had higher expression level in inner-tepals than in outer-tepals, whereas the <italic>M. wufengensis</italic> flower is homochlamydeous. Moreover, ectopic expression of <italic>MAwuPI</italic> in Arabidopsis <italic>pi-1</italic> mutant emerged filament-like structures but had no obvious petals, suggesting a partial phenotypic recovery of <italic>pi-1</italic> mutant. The features of <italic>MAwuPI</italic> in the expression pattern and gene function improved our acknowledgment of B-class genes in <italic>M. wufengensis</italic>, and contributed to the clarification of <italic>M. wufengensis</italic> evolution status and relations with other sibling species in molecular perspective.</p>