Supergene control of chiral development in mirror-image flowers

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Xue, Haoran; Saltini, Marco; Illing, Nicola; Shepherd, Kelly; Page-Macdonald, Olivia; Marketos, Oliver; Robertson, Caroline; Shankar, Anand; Suss, Sarah; Kappel, Christian; Alseekh, Saleh; Deinum, Eva E.; Ingle, Robert A.; Lenhard, Michael
• 署名单位: University of Potsdam; Wageningen University & Research; University of Cape Town; Max Planck Society
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aeb1157
• 发表日期: 2026-07-30
• 页码: eaeb1157
• 关键词: symmetry-breaking; HELICAL GROWTH; EVOLUTION; arabidopsis; rna; genome; maintenance; handedness; cellulose; alignment

摘要

How genes determine the development of chiral structures is a fascinating question. The reciprocal placement of female and male organs on opposite sides of mirror-image flowers promotes efficient cross-pollination. Here, we identified that in butterfly lilies, female and male organs deflect by a combination of genetically controlled chirality and gravitropism, orienting left and right with respect to an external rather than internal reference axis. We found coordinated organ placement to be controlled by a hemizygous supergene containing two candidate causal loci, MIR156-R and YUCCA-R, that are responsible for opposite female and male organ orientation, respectively. The resulting differential placement of pollen carrying the two supergene alleles on pollinators' bodies leads to their transfer to the stigmas of flowers with opposite handedness and maintenance of the reproductive polymorphism.