Genetic Mechanisms Behind Flower Color Variation in Caulanthus Amplexicaulis var. Amplexicaulis (CAA) and Caulanthus Amplexicaulis var. Barbarae (CAB)

Abstract

Genetic research opens doors to applied science. The more that is understood about the genetics of something, the more that organism can be used to achieve some desired outcome, an example being increase in crop yield or pest resistance. This study seeks to locate the gene for flower color in two species of the flower C. amplexicaulis, CAA and CAB, by looking for sequence similarity between the Caulanthus genome and known transcription factors involved in pigment production in Arabidopsis thaliana using plants from the family Brassicaceae as intermediates. Once a high degree of similarity was found in a region of the CAB and CAA genomes, a gene model was developed to achieve an understanding of why CAA is a different color than CAB. The results of this study will then aid in understanding other differences between the flowers.