The Origin of Floral Organ Identity Quartets

Overview

Journal Plant Cell

Publisher Oxford University Press

Specialties Biology
Cell Biology

Date 2017 Jan 20

PMID 28100708

Citations 25

Authors

Philip Ruelens

Zhicheng Zhang

Hilda van Mourik

Steven Maere

Kerstin Kaufmann

Koen Geuten

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The origin of flowers has puzzled plant biologists ever since Darwin referred to their sudden appearance in the fossil record as an abominable mystery. Flowers are considered to be an assembly of protective, attractive, and reproductive male and female leaf-like organs. Their origin cannot be understood by a morphological comparison to gymnosperms, their closest relatives, which develop separate male or female cones. Despite these morphological differences, gymnosperms and angiosperms possess a similar genetic toolbox consisting of phylogenetically related MADS domain proteins. Using ancestral MADS domain protein reconstruction, we trace the evolution of organ identity quartets along the stem lineage of crown angiosperms. We provide evidence that current floral quartets specifying male organ identity, which consist of four types of subunits, evolved from ancestral complexes of two types of subunits through gene duplication and integration of SEPALLATA proteins just before the origin of flowering plants. Our results suggest that protein interaction changes underlying this compositional shift were the result of a gradual and reversible evolutionary trajectory. Modeling shows that such compositional changes may have facilitated the evolution of the perfect, bisexual flower.

Citing Articles

SEPALLATA-driven MADS transcription factor tetramerization is required for inner whorl floral organ development.

Hugouvieux V, Blanc-Mathieu R, Janeau A, Paul M, Lucas J, Xu X Plant Cell. 2024; 36(9):3435-3450.

PMID: 38771250 PMC: 11371193. DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koae151.

Reflections on the ABC model of flower development.

Bowman J, Moyroud E Plant Cell. 2024; 36(5):1334-1357.

PMID: 38345422 PMC: 11062442. DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koae044.

Reciprocal expression of MADS-box genes and DNA methylation reconfiguration initiate bisexual cones in spruce.

Feng Y, Du H, Huang K, Ran J, Wang X Commun Biol. 2024; 7(1):114.

PMID: 38242964 PMC: 10799047. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-05786-6.

Cracking the Floral Quartet Code: How Do Multimers of MIKC-Type MADS-Domain Transcription Factors Recognize Their Target Genes?.

Kappel S, Rumpler F, Theissen G Int J Mol Sci. 2023; 24(9).

PMID: 37175955 PMC: 10178880. DOI: 10.3390/ijms24098253.

The Origin of Floral Quartet Formation-Ancient Exon Duplications Shaped the Evolution of MIKC-type MADS-domain Transcription Factor Interactions.

Rumpler F, Tessari C, Gramzow L, Gafert C, Blohs M, Theissen G Mol Biol Evol. 2023; 40(5).

PMID: 37043523 PMC: 10152394. DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msad088.

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