Evolution of flowers and inflorescences

Abstract

Plant development depends on the activity of meristems which continually reiterate a common plan. Permutations around this plan can give rise to a wide range of morphologies. To understand the mechanisms underlying this variation, the effects of parallel mutations in key developmental genes are being studied in different species. In Antirrhinum, three of these key genes are: (1) floricaula (flo) a gene required for the production of flowers (2) centroradialis (cen), a gene controlling flower position (3) cycloidea (cyc), a gene controlling flower symmetry. Several plant species, exhibiting a range of inflorescence types and floral symmetries are being analysed in detail. Comparative genetic and molecular analysis shows that inflorescence architecture depends on two underlying parameters: a basic inflorescence branching pattern and the positioning of flowers. The flo and cen genes play a key role in the positioning of flowers, and variation in the site and timing of expression of these genes, may account for many of the different inflorescence types. The evolution of inflorescence structure may also have influenced the evolution of floral asymmetry, as illustrated by the cen mutation which changes both inflorescence type and the symmetry of some flowers. Conflicting theories about the origins of irregular flowers and how they have coevolved with inflorescence architecture can be directly assessed by examining the role of cyc- and cen-like genes in species displaying various floral symmetries and inflorescence types.