First published online October 28, 2005
Development 132, 2204e (2005)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
The evolution of sweet attraction
The structure and position of nectaries, which secrete nectar and attract
pollinators to flowering plants, varies widely. In their investigation of
nectary evolution, Lee et al. have discovered that a transcription factor
– CRABS CLAW (CRC), the ancestral role of which is in
carpel development – was co-opted to regulate nectary development in
eudicots (plants with two embryonic leaves) when nectaries became associated
with floral reproductive organs (see
p. 5021). They show
that CRC expression, which is required for nectary development in the
eudicot Arabidopsis, is conserved in the morphogenetically different
nectaries of other core eudicots, but not in those of a basal eudicot –
the ancestors of core eudicots. CRC expression is also required for
nectary development in the two major eudicot phylogenetic lineages. Shared
CRC expression in diverse nectaries, suggest Lee et al., is
comparable to shared gene regulation during the development of different eye
types.
Related articles in Development:
- Recruitment of CRABS CLAW to promote nectary development within the eudicot clade
- Ji-Young Lee, Stuart F. Baum, Sang-Hun Oh, Cai-Zhong Jiang, Jen-Chih Chen, and John L. Bowman
Development 2005 132: 5021-5032.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
