Format: ORAL

Irene T. Liao1, Lena C. Hileman2, Karen E. Sears1,3, Lachezar A. Nikolov4

1. Department of Molecular, Cell, and Development Biology, University of California – Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045 3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California – Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 4. Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405

Nectary function is central to many important ecological interactions. Across flowering plants, nectaries are diverse in positional location and morphology, yet few have used genomic approaches to examine how nectaries develop. Most monocot flowers form septal nectaries, which are located on the margins between the three fused carpels that comprise the gynoecium. While key transcription factors underlying nectary development in eudicots have been characterized, the genes driving monocot nectary development are virtually unknown. As a first step to identifying candidate genes, we are using single nuclei RNA sequencing to obtain cell-type specific expression profiles. We isolated and sequenced banana (Musa Ice Cream) nuclei from two sets of tissuesone region enriched in nectary cells at the top of gynoecium (the top) and the other that lacks nectary cells at the base of the gynoecium (the base)and asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) nuclei from whole gynoecia. We identified putative nectary cell clusters and genes, and a number of candidate genes will be spatially validated with fluorescence in-situ hybridization. These analyses will determine whether both species share a common core set of genes for nectary development. Results from this study will form the foundation for understanding how nectaries have been conserved in monocots.