Conservation and diversity in flower land

• Published in: Current opinion in plant biology Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 84 - 91
• Main Authors: Ferrario, Silvia, Immink, Richard GH, Angenent, Gerco C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2004
• Subjects: Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - genetics; arabidopsis-thaliana; class-b; draft sequence; floral organ identity; flowering; Flowers; Flowers - genetics; gene expression regulation; Genetic Variation; genetics; homeotic genes; homeotic proteins; mads-box genes; Magnoliopsida; Magnoliopsida - genetics; Models, Biological; ovule development; petunia; plant genetics; Plant Proteins; Plant Proteins - genetics; protein-protein interactions; transcription (genetics); transcription factor family; transcription factors; AP1; spw1; DEF; GGM2; AG; PLE; GP; GLO; STK; PHtm6; FAR; PI; SHP; FBP1; LIP1; SEP
• ISSN: 1369-5266; 1879-0356
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2003.11.003

During the past decade, enormous progress has been made in understanding the molecular regulation of flower development. In particular, homeotic genes that determine the identity of the floral organs have been characterised from different flowering plants, revealing considerable conservation among angiosperm species. On the other hand, evolutionary diversification has led to enormous variation in flower morphology. Increasing numbers of reports have described differences in the regulation, redundancy and function of homeotic genes from various species. These fundamentals of floral organ specification are therefore an ideal subject for comparative analyses of flower development, which will lead to a better understanding of plant evolution, plant development and the complexity of molecular mechanisms that control flower development and morphology.