Ectopic Endoreduplication caused by sterol alteration results in serrated petals in

Hase, Yoshihiro; Fujioka, Shozo*; Yoshida, Shigeo*; Sun, G.; Umeda, Masaaki*; Tanaka, Atsushi

The () mutant, that has serrated petals and sepals but no other large changes in plant morphology, was studied. The had a mutation in and an altered sterol composition. It was found that the mutation causes ectopic endoreduplication in petal tips that do not normally endoreduplicate. The rosette leaves of also showed an enhanced level of endoreduplication, but their morphology was hardly affected. These facts suggest that the suppression of endoreduplication is important for petal morphogenesis and the normal sterol composition is required for this suppression.