Petunia hybrida is a popular bedding plant that has a long history as a genetic model system. We report the whole-genome sequencing and assembly of inbred derivatives of its two wild parents, P. axillaris N and P. inflata S6. The assemblies include 91.3% and 90.2% coverage of their diploid genomes (1.4 Gb; 2n = 14) containing 32,928 and 36,697 protein-coding genes, respectively. The genomes reveal that the Petunia lineage has experienced at least two rounds of hexaploidization: the older gamma event, which is shared with most Eudicots, and a more recent Solanaceae event that is shared with tomato and other solanaceous species. Transcription factors involved in the shift from bee to moth pollination reside in particularly dynamic regions of the genome, which may have been key to the remarkable diversity of floral colour patterns and pollination systems. The high-quality genome sequences will enhance the value of Petunia as a model system for research on unique biological phenomena such as small RNAs, symbiosis, self-incompatibility and circadian rhythms.

PCR-based identification of all 13 known self-incompatibility (S) alleles of sweet cherry is reported. Two pairs of consensus primers were designed from our previously published cDNA sequences of S(1) to S(6) S-RNases, the stylar components of self-incompatibility, to reveal length variation of the first and the second introns. With the exception of the first intron of S(13), these also amplified S(7) to S(14) and an allele previously referred to as S(x), which we now label S(16). The genomic PCR products were cloned and sequenced. The partial sequence of S(11) matched that of S(7) and the alleles were shown to have the same functional specificity. Allele-specific primers were designed for S(7) to S(16), so that allele-specific primers are now available for all 13 S alleles of cherry (S(8), S(11) and S(15) are duplicates). These can be used to distinguish between S alleles with introns of similar size and to confirm genotypes determined with consensus primers. The reliability of the PCR with allele-specific primers was improved by the inclusion of an internal control. The use of the consensus and allele-specific primers was demonstrated by resolving conflicting genotypes that have been published recently and by determining genotypes of 18 new cherry cultivars. Two new groups are proposed, Group XXIII (S(3) S(16)), comprising 'Rodmersham Seedling' and 'Strawberry Heart', and Group XXIV (S(6) S(12)), comprising 'Aida' and 'Flamentiner'. Four new self-compatibility genotypes, S(3) S(3)', S(4)' S(6), S(4)' S(9) and S(4)' S(13), were found. The potential use of the consensus primers to reveal incompatibility alleles in other cherry species is also demonstrated.

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Recently, an S haplotype-specific F-box (SFB) gene has been proposed as a candidate for the pollen-S specificity gene of RNase-mediated gametophytic self-incompatibility in Prunus (Rosaceae). We have examined two pollen-part mutant haplotypes of sweet cherry (Prunus avium). Both were found to retain the S-RNase, which determines stylar specificity, but one (S 3 9 in JI 2434) has a deletion including the haplotype-specific SFB gene, and the other (S 4 9 in JI 2420) has a frame-shift mutation of the haplotype-specific SFB gene, causing amino acid substitutions and premature termination of the protein.The loss or significant alteration of this highly polymorphic gene and the concomitant loss of pollen self-incompatibility function provides compelling evidence that the SFB gene encodes the pollen specificity component of self-incompatibility in Prunus. These loss-of-function mutations are inconsistent with SFB being the inactivator of non-self S-RNases and indicate the presence of a general inactivation mechanism, with SFB conferring specificity by protecting self S-RNases from inactivation.

Recently, we have provided evidence that the polymorphic self-incompatibility (S) locus-encoded F-box (SLF) protein AhSLF-S 2 plays a role in mediating a selective S-RNase destruction during the self-incompatible response in Antirrhinum hispanicum. To investigate its role further, we first transformed a transformation-competent artificial chromosome clone (TAC26) containing both AhSLF-S 2 and AhS 2 -RNase into a self-incompatible (SI) line of Petunia hybrida. Molecular analyses showed that both genes are correctly expressed in pollen and pistil in four independent transgenic lines of petunia. Pollination tests indicated that all four lines became self-compatible because of the specific loss of the pollen function of SI. This alteration was transmitted stably into the T1 progeny. We then transformed AhSLF-S 2 cDNA under the control of a tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) pollen-specific promoter LAT52 into the self-incompatible petunia line. Molecular studies revealed that AhSLF-S 2 is specifically expressed in pollen of five independent transgenic plants. Pollination tests showed that they also had lost the pollen function of SI. Importantly, expression of endogenous SLF or SLF-like genes was not altered in these transgenic plants. These results phenocopy a well-known phenomenon called competitive interaction whereby the presence of two different pollen S alleles within pollen leads to the breakdown of the pollen function of SI in several solanaceaous species. Furthermore, we demonstrated that AhSLF-S 2 physically interacts with PhS 3 -RNase from the P. hybrida line used for transformation. Together with the recent demonstration of PiSLF as the pollen determinant in P. inflata, these results provide direct evidence that the polymorphic SLF including AhSLF-S 2 controls the pollen function of S-RNase-based self-incompatibility.