Format: ORAL

Suvrat Kotagal1, Christian Siadjeu1, Gudrun Kadereit1,2

1. Fakultät für Biologie, Systematik, Biodiversität & Evolution der Pflanzen, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany 2. SNSB: Botanische Staatssammlung München und Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg, Germany

Melastomes are well known for their striking diversity in stamen morphologies. The variously modified connective appendages and heteranthery (stamen dimorphism) occurring within this family of ca. 5800 species, has fascinated botanists for more than two centuries. A variety of functions associated with pollination have been discovered for these staminal traits over the years. Although most species are buzz pollinated, repeated evolutionary shifts in staminal traits have often been linked to pollinator shifts and suspected of causing diversification in the family. The evolutionary lability of the connective morphology and heteranthery within several clades lead us to hypothesize that these traits might be controlled by relatively simple genetic mechanisms. We aimed to test this hypothesis by using a comparative transcriptomics approach and selected two closely related Arthrostemma species with different degrees of heteranthery for our studies. Suitable developmental stages for transcriptomic comparisons were identified and RNA was extracted by dissecting and separating the two stamen whorls. Differential expression analyses were done to compare the gene expression profiles of the tissues from the two whorls of stamen within and between species at different developmental stages. Further analyses of the differentially expressed genes to identify candidate genes/groups involved in pedoconnective development and heteranthery are underway. We hope to gain a better understanding of the genetic basis behind this phenomenon of heteranthery and associated staminal traits to use as a substrate for future evolutionary studies in melastomes and other angiosperm families showing heteranthery.