TLDR; We find that APETALA3 (AP3) lineage which is classically known to specify petal and stamen development in many angiosperms, specifies stamen development and underlie petaloid features of the perianth in Meadow Rue (Thalictrum thalictroides). Check out the work here

During my undergraduate I had the fantastic oppertunity to research what makes flowers colorful in the lab of Veronica Di Stilio at the University of Washington. Nothing can brighten a day quite like a colorful flower. Their vibrant colors offer a treat to pollinators in exchange for the dispersal of pollen and seeds. In many case petals are responsible for the delightful color. The form of the petals, their shape, their color, provide us with a hint to whom they attract. Red tubular flowers are known to attract hummingbirds, who see in infared whos beak reaches the bottom of the long flower. Blue round flowers attract insects, who see in ultraviolet and use the petals as a landing pad. Petals are not the only colorful organ; In some species the stamen, the male reproductive parts that make pollen, can be colorful (check out the work of Chelsea Specht for more on this!). In other cases the sepals, the green leaf-like structure that enclose the flower when its in a bud, can also express attractive features.

We worked with a cute little group of flowers the Meadow-Rues. The entire genus is apetalus, they lacks petals, however some members have colorful sepals: They are large, scented, their cells are puzzle shaped and they are colorful. The goal of our research was to understand the molecular mechanism that produced colorful sepals. A great deal of work had already elucidated the genes underlying petal development in thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana). They showed that a group of genes called the ‘B-class’ genes, specified petal and stamen development. Additionally, these same genes seemed to be responsible for petal development in an additional array of flowering plants. We tested wheather this features held-up, in Meadow-Rues. Perhaps these genes were involved in producing similar features in the sepals of Thalictrum.

Along with my menotor Kelsey Galimba we characterized the developmental function of the B-class genes in the genus Thalictrum. The ‘B-class’ genes in Thalictrum are comprised of three different genes AP3-1, AP3-2a, AP3-2b. The similarity in their names reflects their evolutionary relationship as these genes are the result of two gene duplication events.