From Barbs to Blooms: Dispersal, Development, and Transcriptomics in Bidens

Abstract

The Asteraceae is the largest family of flowering plants, constituting ~10% of total angiosperm diversity. The family is characterized by its conserved inflorescence architecture, the capitulum. Despite the family’s global ubiquity, the developmental genetics of the capitulum is poorly understood. The inflorescence is characterized by reduced flowers (florets) arranged on a singular, expanded receptacle, collectively mimicking and functioning as a solitary flower. Here, I address the evolution and development of novel traits, such as pappus, in the capitulum by leveraging the heterozygosity of Bidens cv. “Compact Yellow” and its offspring. I use a forward genetics approach to identify phenotype segregation in florets, patterns of variance, and causative gene candidates in a mapping population produced via self-fertilization of Compact Yellow. Discrete stages of inflorescence and floral organ development are described through microscopy and RNA-Seq data, providing insight on the dynamics of well-known floral regulators functioning in our system.