Department of Plant Biology, University of California, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Development. 2010 Jan;137(2):179-89. doi: 10.1242/dev.030346.
Plant reproduction involves gamete production by a haploid generation, the gametophyte. For flowering plants, a defining characteristic in the evolution from the 'naked-seed' plants, or gymnosperms, is a reduced female gametophyte, comprising just seven cells of four different types--a microcosm of pattern formation and gamete specification about which only little is known. However, several genes involved in the differentiation, fertilization and post-fertilization functions of the female gametophyte have been identified and, recently, the morphogenic activity of the plant hormone auxin has been found to mediate patterning and egg cell specification. This article reviews recent progress in understanding the pattern formation, maternal effects and evolution of this essential unit of plant reproduction.
植物繁殖涉及由单倍体世代（配子体）产生配子。对于开花植物而言，从“裸子”植物或裸子植物进化而来的一个定义特征是雌性配子体的减少，仅包含七种不同类型的四个细胞——这是对模式形成和配子特化的微观认识，而对此我们知之甚少。然而，已经鉴定出几个参与雌性配子体分化、受精和受精后功能的基因，最近发现植物激素生长素的形态发生活性介导了模式形成和卵细胞特化。本文综述了在理解植物繁殖这一基本单位的模式形成、母体效应和进化方面的最新进展。
