ABSTRACT
The morphogenetic effects of the interaction of the floral mutations petal-sepal and anther in petal in Papaver somniferum L. with a monocarpic shoot were studied. During analysis of the mutations controlled by the genes ptsp and Ant, no plants of the double-mutant class were found in the second generation, in which microsporangia form on the corolla sepal structures. The ratio of phenotypic classes obtained in the experiment corresponds to that inheritance, when the genetic control of mutant characters is realized by nonallele nonlinked genes Ant and ptsp upon epistatic interaction of these genes. These data were confirmed by analysis of the genotypes of F2 plants from the phenotypic class petal-sepal, which include plants that carry both mutant genes Ant and ptsp. The results obtained suggest that the gene Ant, which controls the formation of microsporangia in the corolla metameres, is not expressed in the presence of a mutation of the gene ptsp; i.e., microsporangia are not formed in tissues with photosynthesizing cells. It is evident that the development of microsporangia is determined by the level of a product of the gene Ptsp. The role of flavonols (quercetin), inhibitors of photosynthesis, as a mechanism of regulation of activity of the genes controlling morphogenesis of the corolla elements and differentiation of microsporangia, is discussed.
