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Grass inflorescence architecture and evolution: the origin of novel signaling centers
Author(s) -
Whipple Clinton J.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.14538
Subject(s) - inflorescence , homeotic gene , biology , evolutionary biology , evolutionary developmental biology , meristem , function (biology) , developmental genetics , diversification (marketing strategy) , botany , genetics , gene , transcription factor , regulation of gene expression , marketing , business
Summary A central goal of evo‐devo is to understand how morphological diversity arises from existing developmental mechanisms, requiring a clear, predictive explanatory framework of the underlying developmental mechanisms. Despite an ever‐increasing literature on genes regulating grass inflorescence development, an effective model of inflorescence patterning is lacking. I argue that the existing framework for grass inflorescence development, which invokes homeotic shifts in multiple distinct meristem identities, obscures a recurring theme emerging from developmental genetic studies in grass models, that is that inflorescence branching is regulated by novel localized signaling centers. Understanding the origin and function of these novel signaling centers will be key to future evo‐devo work on the grass inflorescence.ContentsSummary 367 I. Introduction 367 II. Modeling inflorescence development 368 III. Novel grass inflorescence structures associated with novel signaling centers 370 IV. Conclusions 371Acknowledgements 371References 371