Melzer Siegbert, Lens Frederic, Gennen Jerôme, Vanneste Steffen, Rohde Antje, Beeckman Tom
Department of Plant Systems Biology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Nat Genet. 2008 Dec;40(12):1489-92. doi: 10.1038/ng.253. Epub 2008 Nov 9.
Plants have evolved annual and perennial life forms as alternative strategies to adapt reproduction and survival to environmental constraints. In isolated situations, such as islands, woody perennials have evolved repeatedly from annual ancestors. Although the molecular basis of the rapid evolution of insular woodiness is unknown, the molecular difference between perennials and annuals might be rather small, and a change between these life strategies might not require major genetic innovations. Developmental regulators can strongly affect evolutionary variation and genes involved in meristem transitions are good candidates for a switch in growth habit. We found that the MADS box proteins SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS 1 (SOC1) and FRUITFULL (FUL) not only control flowering time, but also affect determinacy of all meristems. In addition, downregulation of both proteins established phenotypes common to the lifestyle of perennial plants, suggesting their involvement in the prevention of secondary growth and longevity in annual life forms.
植物进化出一年生和多年生的生命形式，作为使繁殖和生存适应环境限制的替代策略。在诸如岛屿等孤立环境中，木本多年生植物多次从一年生祖先进化而来。尽管岛屿木本化快速进化的分子基础尚不清楚，但多年生植物和一年生植物之间的分子差异可能相当小，并且这些生命策略之间的转变可能不需要重大的基因创新。发育调节因子能强烈影响进化变异，参与分生组织转变的基因是生长习性转变的良好候选基因。我们发现，MADS盒蛋白CONSTANS 1过表达抑制因子（SOC1）和FUL（FRUITFULL）不仅控制开花时间，还影响所有分生组织的确定性。此外，这两种蛋白的下调建立了多年生植物生活方式常见的表型，表明它们参与了一年生植物生活形式中次生生长的抑制和寿命的延长。
