Abstract
Because it grows quickly, and flowers early and frequently, Melaleuca quiquenervia has become a prominent invasive species in Southwest Florida Using knowledge regarding the expression of flowering genes in Melaleuca, it may be possible to alter flowering in other species. Flowering genes of interest are APETALA1 (AP1) in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana and a homolog in Melaleuca: MqAP1. To compare activities of the regulatory regions of these genes, a construct had been made including the promoter region of the Arabidopsis AP1 (AtAP1) upstream of the β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene. This construct had been introduced into Arabidopsis through Agrobacterium transformation. Transgenic plants were selected on kanamycin-containing medium. Green seedlings were transferred to soil and DNA extracted from leaves. PCR was performed to confirm that the kanamycin-resistant plants were transgenic. To compare promoter activities between transgenic plants containing GUS fused to the AtAP1 or the MqAP1 promoters, the use of plants homozygous for one insertion of the constructs will be necessary. Transgenic plants were self-pollinated and seeds are being plated on kanamycin medium. Chi-square analysis is used to identify plants that have one insertion. Once the MqAP1 gene is fully sequenced, the same procedure will be used to study expression from the MqAP1 promoter.