The Development and Evolution of Complex Leaves

[92599]高等植物的单叶是主要的光合结构，在全球范围内负责能量交换，对植物的生存起着重要作用。虽然两种类型的叶片，简单和复杂，可以从任何给定的茎尖产生，这些不同的叶片形态的发育和进化基础是未知的。高等植物的系统发育关系表明，复杂叶片在陆生植物的进化过程中出现了多个独立的时期。简单和复杂的叶片在一些基本的级联过程中是不同的，还是新的基因和调控网络参与了每一个独立的叶片复杂性事件的产生？明确定义的基因，如KNOX1 - like HOMEOBOX 1类基因（KNOX1）的作用。在叶复杂度的生成中需要定义PHAN。此外，调控这一过程的未知基因座也需要确定。该研究将利用具有复杂叶片的不相关家族的基因表达分析，具有不同叶片形式的克隆个体的差异基因表达分析，以及相关物种中调节叶片复杂性的因子的克隆。这项研究的目的是确定调节叶片形状和形状的基因，并帮助我们了解叶片形状是如何发展到独特的适合叶片进行光合作用的功能。

0092599SinhaLeaves of higher plants are the primary photosynthetic structures and account for energy exchanges on a global scale and are responsible for plant survival. While two types of leaves, simple and complex, can arise from any given shoot apex, the developmental and evolutionary basis of these divergent leaf morphologies is not known. The phylogenetic relationships in higher plants suggest that complex leaves arose multiple independent times during the evolution of land plants. Do simple and complex leaves differ at the level of some basic cascade of processes or are new genes and regulatory networks involved in generating each independent event of leaf complexity? The role of well-defined genes like the KNOTTED-Like HOMEOBOX Class 1 genes (KNOX1), LFY. PHAN in the generation of leaf complexity needs to be defined. Further, as yet unknown loci that regulate the process also need to be identified. The proposed research will utilize gene expression analyses in unrelated families with complex leaves, differential gene expression analyses in clonal individuals exhibiting contrasting leaf forms, and the cloning of factors that regulate leaf complexity in related species. The goal of this research is to identify the genes that regulate leaf shape and form, and to help us understand how leaf form is developed to uniquely suit the photosynthetic function that leaves perform.