Molecular Characterization and Functional Analysis of an AGAMOUS-like Gene CiAG from Pecan

Abstract

The floral homeotic C-function gene AGAMOUS (AG) has been shown to be critical in the determination of stamen and carpel identity in Arabidopsis. In the present study, a new homologue of AGAMOUS gene from pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch], denoted by CiAG, was isolated and its function was characterized. The complementary DNA (cDNA) of CiAG contains an open reading frame of 687 base pairs (bp) encoding 227 amino acids. Multiple sequence comparisons revealed that CiAG had the typical MIKC structure. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that CiAG is closely related to C-lineage AG. The expression of CiAG was highly accumulated in the reproductive tissues (staminate flowers, pistillate flowers, and fruitlets) than in vegetative tissues (leaves and current-growth branches). Arabidopsis overexpressing CiAG exhibited earlier flowering. The homeotic transformations of petals into stamen organs were observed in 35S::CiAG transgenic plants. All these results indicated that CiAG plays a key role in the process of flower development of pecan.