Expression patterns of <i>MtAGa, MtAGb</i> and <i>MtSHP</i> genes in various plant tissues of <i>M. truncatula</i>.

<p>Northern blot analyses were performed using total RNA prepared from leaves (L), flowers (Fl), young fruits (Fr), stems (S) and roots (R).</p

Overexpression of <i>MtAGa</i> and <i>MtAGb</i> in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i>: floral phenotypes.

<p>Wild-type <i>Arabidopsis</i> flower (A). Floral phenotypes observed in <i>Arabidopsis</i> plants overexpressing <i>MtAGa</i> or <i>MtAGb</i> genes have been classified into mild (B), medium (C) and strong (D). Scanning electron micrographs showing the characteristic cellular types of wild-type sepals (E), petals (F), stamens (G) and carpels (H). Scanning electron micrographs of sepals from overexpression lines with mild phenotype (I) showing wax accumulation (arrow). Narrow petals from overexpressing lines (J) showing staminoid cellular types (K). Wax accumulation in sepals (L) of plants with medium and strong phenotypes. Near complete homeotic conversion of petal into stamen (M) showing characteristic cellular types from anther (N) and filament (O). Flower with strong phenotype showing ectopic ovules and stigmatic tissue (P) in the first whorl. Relative proportion of phenotypes observed in plants overexpressing <i>MtAGa</i> or <i>MtAGb</i> genes (Q). Bars indicate: 1mm in A, B, C, and D.</p

Two eu<i>AGAMOUS</i> genes in <i>Medicago truncatula</i>.

<p>(A) Gene structure of <i>MtAGa</i> and <i>MtAGb</i>. Coding sequences are represented as boxes and introns as dotted lines. Black triangles localize the position of the <i>Tnt1</i> insertions present in the mutant lines <i>mtaga</i> (NF13380) and <i>mtagb</i> (NF4908) used in this study. (B) Neighbor-Joining Tree of eu<i>AG</i> and <i>PLENA</i> homologs from a selection of diverse species. The numbers next to the nodes refer to bootstrap values from 10000 pseudo-replicates<b>.</b> (C) Distribution of putative LFY binding sites in the first intron of <i>MtAGa</i>, <i>MtAGb</i> and <i>MtSHP</i> genes as identified with the use of a position-specific scoring matrix using a cutoff value of −20.</p

Floral phenotypes of <i>M. truncatula mtagb</i> and <i>mtaga</i> mutants and MtAGab-VIGS silenced plants.

<p>(A) Dissected wild-type <i>M. truncatula</i> flower showing the four floral whorls (W1 to W4). Floral phenotypes are similar in <i>mtaga.</i> (B) and <i>mtagb</i> (C) mutants. Mutant flowers (left) were opened to show the inner whorls. In W3 the staminal tubes are unfused and occasionally petaloid structures appear (arrow) replacing the anthers. Carpels in W4 present stigmatic protuberances (arrow) or multiple unfused carpels and exposed ovules (boxed). (D) <i>MtAGab-</i>VIGS flower with severe homeotic transformation of stamens into petals and carpels into sepaloid structures (arrows). Bars indicate 1 mm.</p