Flowers are designed to attract specific pollinators and to expedite pollen transfer. In snapdragons (Antirrhinums), the ventral petal, one of five fused petals forming the corolla, provides a reinforced landing site for bees. It also contains conical cells to deepen its colour, and hairs (trichomes) to help pollen transfer. On p. , Perez-Rodriguez and co-workers report that in Antirrhinum majus, a MYB-related transcription factor – MYB MIXTA LIKE 1 (AmMYBML1)– controls trichome formation in the corolla tube, conical cell development in the petal hinge epidermis, and also hinge reinforcement at the bee landing site. AmMYBML1 – which is expressed early in ventral petal development – probably arose by gene duplication from MIXTA (which controls conical cell formation elsewhere in the flower). This gene duplication, together with specialized changes in AmMYBML1 expression, likely underlies the evolution of the bee-friendly features of snapdragons.
