Abstract:
Bamboos belong to the monocotyledonous plant family Poaceae and subfamily Bambusoideae. Bamboos represent an extreme example of perennialism, where the reproductive phase begins after completion of an extended vegetative phase, which may vary across species. Other than delayed flowering time, existence of two different types of inflorescences, genetics of floral development and nature of pollen compatibility make bamboo unique in comparison to other grasses.
The main aim of this study was to understand the floral organ development and pollination mechanism in Bambusa tulda. In this study, the relative abundance of two different types of inflorescence in an entire flowering cycle were analysed and rate of seed setting was compared. One potential limitation to perform gene expression analyses on Bambusa members was the absence of suitable reference genes to normalize expression data. In this study, reference genes were identified, which were stable across species, organs and developmental stages. In order to understand the molecular mechanism that regulates flower development, the floral meristem identity genes MADS14, MADS15 and MADS18 were sequenced from B. tulda and their expression pattern was analyzed across different vegetative and reproductive tissues. In order to understand the genetics of pollen compatibility in bamboo, in vivo pollination experiments were performed. The finding indicated that B. tulda is primarily a cross pollinated species. In order to further understand the molecular mechanism regulating genetic compatibility in bamboo, selected members of RNase T2 and Fbox gene families were studied. Overall, the findings of this study will be useful to understand the morphological, ecological and molecular basis of flower development and genetic compatibility in bamboos
