Overexpression of a gene encoding a cytochrome p450, CYP78A9, induces large and seedless fruit in arabidopsis

An activation tagging screen in which the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S enhancer was inserted randomly into an Arabidopsis genome homozygous for the floral homeotic mutation apetala2-1 (ap2-1) resulted in a line (28-5) with extraordinarily wide, heart-shaped ovaries. The ovary of the 28-5 ap2-1 mutant shows an oval shape because of increased numbers of enlarged cells. When the ap2-1 mutation is crossed out of the genetic background, more elongated rather than wider fruits are obtained. Normally, Arabidopsis fruits will develop to a normal size only when the ovules are present and fertilized. In the 28-5 single mutant, the siliques keep growing despite failure of fertilization and can reach nearly normal size. When wild-type pollen was used to pollinate the mutant pistil, the pollinated 28-5 silique became >10% longer and 40% wider than a wild-type silique, although producing very few seeds. The enhancer insertion in line 28-5 acts by hyperactivating a cytochrome P450 gene, CYP78A9. The pistil of 28-5 ap2-1 mutant flowers shows a structure similar to that of Capsella bursa-pastoris, a distant mustard relative of Arabidopsis, suggesting that the processes regulated by the CYP78A9-encoded protein may be involved in evolutionary control of carpel shape.