Jiajia Li , Xiani Yao , Huan Lai, Xuelian Zhang, Jinshun Zhong

Current Opinion in Plant Biology，Volume 81, October 2024, 102574,Doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102574

Abstract

Reiterative shoot branching largely defines important yield components of crops and is essentially controlled by programs that direct the initiation, dormancy release, and differentiation of meristems in the axils of leaves. Here, we focus on meristem determinacy, defining the number of reiterations that shape the shoot architectures and exhibit enormous diversity in a wide range of species. The meristem determinacy per se is hierarchically complex and context-dependent for the successively emerged meristems, representing a crucial mechanism in shaping the complexity of the shoot branching. In addition, we have highlighted that two key components of axillary meristem developmental programs may have been co-opted in controlling flower/ear number of an axillary inflorescence in legumes/maize, hinting at the diversification of axillary-meristem-patterning programs in different lineages. This begs the question how axillary meristem patterning programs may have diversified during plant evolution and hence helped shape the rich variation in shoot branching systems.

论文链接：https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369526624000657