Unravelling the molecular mechanism of petal spot initiation in sexually deceptive South African daisy Gorteria diffusa.

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• Dr Udhaya Ponraj, Glover Group, Department of Plant Sciences
• Thursday 02 March 2023, 12:15-13:45
• Online / Plant Sciences LLT for Department members only.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Kumari Billakurthi.

Gorteria diffusa, a daisy endemic to northwest South Africa belonging to the Asteraceae family exhibits a very distinct raised dark petal-spot at the base of the subset of its ray florets. This dark petal-spot appears to mimic small bee flies (Megapalpus capensis) which pollinate G. diffusa. Field investigations showed that the dark spots induce mating behaviour in male flies.

The G. diffusa petal spot is a three-dimensional elaboration of the petal epidermis with three specialized oration cell types. These specialized cell types must differentiate in the correct positions with respect to one another on the ligule to mimic the flies otherwise sexual deception does not occur.

I will discuss my preliminary results on the ontogeny of ray floret development, expression pattern of potential regulator of petal spot and the work plan to address how spot development is coordinated between the petals forming a ligule.

This talk is part of the Plant Sciences Departmental Seminars series.

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