Summary The transcriptional network topology of B function in Antirrhinum, required for petal and stamen development, is thought to rely on initial activation of transcription of DEFICIENS (DEF) and GLOBOSA (GLO), followed by a positive autoregulatory loop maintaining gene expression levels. Here, we show that the mutant compacta (co), whose vegetative growth and petal size are affected, plays a role in B function. Late events in petal morphogenesis such as development of conical cell area and scent emissions were reduced in co and def nicotianoides (def nic), and absent in co def nic double mutants, suggesting a role for CO in petal identity. Expression of DEF was down‐regulated in co but surprisingly GLO was not affected. We investigated the levels of DEF and GLO at late stages of petal development in the co, def nic and glo‐1 mutants, and established a reliable transformation protocol that yielded RNAi‐DEF lines. We show that the threshold levels of DEF or GLO required to obtain petal tissue are approximately 11% of wild‐type. The relationship between DEF and GLO transcripts is not equal or constant and changes during development. Furthermore, down‐regulation of DEF or GLO does not cause parallel down‐regulation of the partner. Our results demonstrate that, at late stages of petal development, the B function transcriptional network topology is not based on positive autoregulation, and has additional components of transcriptional maintenance. Our results suggest changes in network topology that may allow changes in protein complexes that would explain the fact that not all petal traits appear early in development.

Summary The gene AINTEGUMENTA (AtANT) is an APETALA2 transcription factor in Arabidopsis activating growth downstream of auxin signalling. Lateral organ size is positively correlated with ANT expression in Arabidopsis. We tested the use of AtANT as a tool to modify floral size in two different plants used as model organisms and ornamental crops, Petunia × hybrida and Antirrhinum majus. Petunia plants expressing PhANT RNAi showed a decrease in PhANT expression correlated with smaller petal limbs. In contrast Petunia plants overexpressing AtANT had larger petal limbs. Petal tube length was less affected in down‐regulation of PhANT or overexpression of AtANT. Overexpression of AtANT in Antirrhinum caused increased flower size via increased petal limb width and tube length. Down‐regulation of PhANT showed an effect on cell size while overexpression of AtANT in Petunia and Antirrhinum caused significant increases in cell expansion that could explain the differences in floral organ size. The endogenous expression levels of PhANT and AmANT tended to be higher in the limb than in the tube in both Antirrhinum and Petunia. AtANT overexpression caused significant AmANT up‐regulation in Antirrhinum limbs but not of PhANT in Petunia, indicating differences in the regulatory network. The differential effect of AtANT on limb and tube in Petunia and Antirrhinum correspond to phenotypic differences observed in natural variation in the corresponding genus indicating a relation between the phenotypic space of a genus and the effect of modified ANT levels, validating ANT as a gene to modify floral size.

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