Morphological characterization of modified flower morphology of three novel alloplasmic male sterile carrot sources

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Abstract
Three novel sources of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) in carrot are characterized by altered flower phenotypes. Flowers were classified into subtypes, according to stamen (and petal) modification. Flower anatomy was investigated by light microscopy to describe organ modification and to specify the timing when morphology begins to deviate. Early stages of floral development were defined in fertile male flowers of the cultivated carrot according to model plants such as Antirrhinum and Arabidopsis and compared with corresponding stages of the novel cytoplasmic male‐sterile flower types. Early organogenesis was identical in the different CMS types and comparable to corresponding stages of unmodified flowers. The morphology of stamens, and in some cases petals, became different in CMS flowers during early organ differentiation. For each CMS type, the cytoplasm appears to influence organogenesis in a specific way. Although homoeosis is usually considered to be controlled exclusively by specific nuclear genes, a role of cytoplasmic factors is suggested