Abstract

In recent years the function of several genes involved in flower development has been elucidated; however little attempt has been made to match it with the ecological and evolutionary profiles of plant groups. The tribe Antirrhineae, which includes the model species Antirrhinum majus and Linaria vulgaris, presents a good degree of variation in floral morphology that can be related to pollen vectors. My project analyses how different flower developmental programmes are involved in plant-animal coevolution with the aim of producing a detailed picture of the molecular evolutionary events underlying pollinator shifts. I have begun by characterising different floral traits and mapping them onto the group phylogeny, to determine the importance of floral change with pollinator shifts for the evolution of this group. Future work will look at the evolution of the genes responsible for the development of these traits such as MIXTA , necessary for the formation of conical cells; and Invaginata, involved in the formation of nectar spurs.