This is an exciting time to study how different non-model species use common developmental genes to create such diversity in the plant world. In many cases researchers tend to identify, within newly available sequences, genes that putatively encode proteins similar to those genetically characterized in model species. A great toolbox of methods to study gene [...]

Most of the edible Citrus species are believed to be of interspecific origin as a consequence of reticulate evolution. Garcia-Lor et al. conduct phylogenetic studies at intergeneric level (Citrinae, Rutaceae) and within the Citrus genus based on targeted gene nuclear DNA sequences, SSR and indel nuclear markers. They clarify the phylogenetic relationships between the ancestral ‘true [...]

Previous research has demonstrated that fruit load acts as a strong inhibitor of flowering in many fruit-tree species, including Citrus. Muñoz-Fambuena et al. analyse the expression of flowering-related genes at the meristem level in alternate-bearing citrus trees, and the interplay between buds and leaves in the determination of flowering. The results suggest that the presence of [...]

The gene pool of Citrus and related genera of Aurantioideae is essentially diploid but tetraploid plants are frequently encountered in seedlings of diploid apomictic genotypes. Aleza et al. demonstrate that tetraploidization by chromosome doubling of nucellar cells is a frequent event in apomictic citrus, and is affected by genotypic and environmental factors, with colder conditions [...]