PASSIOMA: Exploring Expressed Sequence Tags during Flower Development in Passiflora spp.

The genus Passiflora provides a remarkable example of floral complexity and diversity. The extreme variation of Passiflora flower morphologies allowed a wide range of interactions with pollinators to evolve. We used the analysis of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) as an approach for the characterization of genes expressed during Passiflora reproductive development. Analyzing the Passiflora floral EST database (named PASSIOMA), we found sequences showing significant sequence similarity to genes known to be involved in reproductive development such as MADS-box genes. Some of these sequences were studied using RT-PCR and in situ hybridization confirming their expression during Passiflora flower development. The detection of these novel sequences can contribute to the development of EST-based markers for important agronomic traits as well as to the establishment of genomic tools to study the naturally occurring floral diversity among Passiflora species.