Figure 4

Reduced leaf and flower size in Pelargonium zonale pSAG12::ipt transgenic plants. Occasional inflorescence reversion. (a). The pSAG12::ipt transgenic plants (right) showed a more compact architecture with reduced organs than the WT plants (left). (b). Reduced leaf size in the pSAG12::ipt plants (right) compared with a WT leaf (left). (c). The flowers of the pSAG12::ipt plants were also reduced in size (right) when compared with WT flowers (left). In adult plants cultivated at the greenhouse, we did not observe alterations in the inflorescence development when compared the WT inflorescences with the transgenic ones (d-e). Occasionally, in some pSAG12::ipt inflorescences, flowers coexist with new vegetative structures, which are produced at the same time as flowers or new inflorescences, indicating inflorescence reversion (f-g-h). (i). Real-time RT-PCR analysis of pSAG12::ipt transcript levels in detached leaves from the transgenic lines 3.4, 3.9, 4.3 and 4.12. Each sample’s expression level relative to Pelargonium x hortorum PhACTIN7 is the mean of three biological repeats. C: control WT leaves.