Fig 1.
Expression of MaASR gene in banana female flowers from the upper inflorescence.
(A) The female flowers from the tenth (F10), ninth (F9), eighth (F8), fourth (F4), and first (F1) cluster from the upper inflorescence. (B) Relative expression level in banana female flowers. The y-axis represents the relative fold-difference in mRNA level, which was calculated using the 2-ΔΔCT formula with ACTIN and UBQ as internal controls. The vertical bars represent the mean ± SD of three replicates.
Fig 2.
Flowering phenotypes of MaASR transgenic plants.
(A) Phenotype of floral organs detached from the same position and developmental stage of 14 d under LD in WT and transgenic plants. (B) Plants at 14 d under LD. (C) Flowering days of MaASR transgenic lines L14 and L38. (D) The number of rosette leaves of MaASR transgenic lines L14 and L38. (E) Plants at 28 d under LD. (F) The number of plants at flower buds stage. (G) The number of plants at mid-flower stage. (H) The number of plants at full-bloom stage.
Fig 3.
TreeView representation of ESTs from microarray data (L14 vs WT) and functional classification of flowering-related candidate genes.
(A) Gene expression profile of transgenic plants L14 and WT. (B) Functional classification of candidate genes. Red: up-regulated genes; Green: down-regulated genes.
Fig 4.
Expression analysis of photoperiod pathway genes, vernalization pathway genes, flower development related genes, GA pathway genes, floral integrator genes, and autonomous pathway genes in WT and MaASR transgenic plants.
(A) Photoperiod pathway genes. (B) Vernalization pathway genes. (C) Flower development related genes. (D) GA pathway genes. (E) Floral integrator genes. (F) Autonomous pathway genes. WT: Wild-type; L14, L38: MaASR transgenic lines. Data are represented as mean ± SD of biological replicates (n = 3). Means denoted by the same letter do not significantly differ when set at P<0.05 as determined by Duncan’s multiple range tests.
Fig 5.
A tentative model showing the main genes involved in the multiple flowering pathway in MaASR overexpressed plants.