The AP2-like gene NsAP2 from water lily is involved in floral organogenesis and plant height

APETALA2 (AP2) genes are ancient and widely distributed among the seed plants, and play an important role during the plant life cycle, acting as key regulators of many developmental processes. In this study, an AP2 homologue, NsAP2, was characterized from water lily (Nymphaea sp. cv. ‘Yellow Prince’) and is believed to be rather primitive in the evolution of the angiosperms. In situ RNA hybridization showed that NsAP2 transcript was present in all regions of the floral primordium, but had the highest level in the emerging floral organ primordium. After the differentiation of floral organs, NsAP2 was strongly expressed in sepals and petals, while low levels were found in stamens and carpels. The NsAP2 protein was suggested to be localized in the cell nucleus by onion transient expression experiment. Overexpression of NsAP2 in Arabidopsis led to more petal numbers, and Arabidopsis plants expressing NsAP2 exhibited higher plant height, which may be a result of down-regulated expression of GA2ox2 and GA2ox7. Our results indicated that the NsAP2 protein may function in flower organogenesis in water lily, and it is a promising gene for plant height improvement.