Irish Vivian F, Litt Amy
Departments of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2005 Aug;15(4):454-60. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2005.06.001.
Gene duplication and diversification can provide the raw material for the evolution of new morphologies. In plants, the numbers of MADS-box genes have multiplied considerably, resulting in a plethora of these transcriptional regulators in the angiosperms (flowering plants). MADS-box genes have been implicated in the regulation of a variety of flower developmental processes; therefore, understanding the functional consequences of duplication and diversification in this gene family can shed light on the evolution of different floral forms. Recent functional analyses of MADS-box gene lineages have demonstrated that in various instances these genes have swapped roles, acquired novel roles, or retained ancestral roles. These studies underscore the idea that gene function cannot be extrapolated from structural orthology.
基因复制和多样化可为新形态的进化提供原材料。在植物中，MADS-box基因的数量大幅增加，导致被子植物（开花植物）中有大量此类转录调节因子。MADS-box基因已被证明参与多种花发育过程的调控；因此，了解该基因家族中复制和多样化的功能后果有助于揭示不同花形态的进化。最近对MADS-box基因谱系的功能分析表明，在各种情况下，这些基因已经交换了角色、获得了新角色或保留了祖先角色。这些研究强调了不能从结构同源性推断基因功能这一观点。
