Plant Sciences Dept, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2010 Aug;20(4):448-53. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2010.04.007. Epub 2010 May 6.
The diversity of flowering structures dazzles the eye, dominates the landscape, and invites evolutionary questions regarding the development of such variety. Comparative work in a number of genetically tractable plant species has addressed how diverse floral architectures develop, and started to reveal the balance between conservation and divergence of the patterning mechanisms responsible for when and where flowers form on a plant. We highlight findings from Petunia where conserved LFY/UFO function is under species-specific regulation, and a novel mechanism involving WOX homeodomain proteins for modulating cyme development in diverse nightshades. We also draw attention to recent findings in Arabidopsis of miRNA and chromatin-based timing mechanisms controlling floral development, and illustrate how genetic studies in Arabidopsis relatives can reveal how evolutionary changes in such mechanisms generate diversity in form.
花朵结构的多样性令人眼花缭乱，主导着景观，并引发了关于这种多样性发展的进化问题。在一些遗传上易于处理的植物物种中的比较研究已经解决了如何发展多样化的花卉结构，并开始揭示负责在植物上何时何地形成花朵的模式形成机制的保守性和分歧之间的平衡。我们重点介绍了矮牵牛的研究结果，其中保守的 LFY/UFO 功能受到物种特异性调控，以及涉及 WOX 同源域蛋白的新型机制，用于调节不同茄属植物的聚伞花序发育。我们还提请注意拟南芥中控制花发育的 miRNA 和染色质定时机制的最新发现，并说明在拟南芥亲属中的遗传研究如何揭示此类机制的进化变化如何产生形式上的多样性。
