AUTHOR=Pabón-Mora Natalia , Wong Gane Ka-Shu , Ambrose Barbara A. 

TITLE=Evolution of fruit development genes in flowering plants

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2014

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2014.00300

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2014.00300

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>The genetic mechanisms regulating dry fruit development and opercular dehiscence have been identified in <italic>Arabidopsis thaliana</italic>. In the bicarpellate silique, valve elongation and differentiation is controlled by <italic>FRUITFULL</italic> (<italic>FUL</italic>) that antagonizes <italic>SHATTERPROOF1-2</italic> (<italic>SHP1</italic>/<italic>SHP2</italic>) and <italic>INDEHISCENT</italic> (<italic>IND</italic>) at the dehiscence zone where they control normal lignification. <italic>SHP1/2</italic> are also repressed by <italic>REPLUMLESS</italic> (<italic>RPL</italic>), responsible for replum formation. Similarly, <italic>FUL</italic> indirectly controls two other factors <italic>ALCATRAZ</italic> (<italic>ALC</italic>) and <italic>SPATULA</italic> (<italic>SPT</italic>) that function in the proper formation of the separation layer. FUL and SHP1/2 belong to the MADS-box family, IND and ALC belong to the bHLH family and RPL belongs to the homeodomain family, all of which are large transcription factor families. These families have undergone numerous duplications and losses in plants, likely accompanied by functional changes. Functional analyses of homologous genes suggest that this network is fairly conserved in Brassicaceae and less conserved in other core eudicots. Only the MADS box genes have been functionally characterized in basal eudicots and suggest partial conservation of the functions recorded for Brassicaceae. Here we do a comprehensive search of <italic>SHP, IND, ALC, SPT</italic>, and <italic>RPL</italic> homologs across core-eudicots, basal eudicots, monocots and basal angiosperms. Based on gene-tree analyses we hypothesize what parts of the network for fruit development in Brassicaceae, in particular regarding direct and indirect targets of <italic>FUL</italic>, might be conserved across angiosperms.</p>