The Development and Evolution of Complex Leaves

高等植物叶片是植物的主要光合作用结构，在全球范围内负责能量交换，对植物的生存起着重要作用。虽然简单和复杂两种类型的叶片可以从任何给定的枝尖产生，但这些不同叶片形态的发育和进化基础尚不清楚。高等植物的系统发育关系表明，在陆地植物的进化过程中，复杂的叶片出现了多次独立的时期。简单叶和复杂叶在一些基本的级联过程的水平上是不同的，还是新的基因和调控网络参与了叶复杂性的每个独立事件的产生？明确定义的基因的作用，如打结的同源盒1类基因(KNOX1)，LFY。Phan在叶的生成中的复杂性需要定义。此外，目前还需要确定调节这一过程的未知基因。这项拟议的研究将利用复杂叶片的无关家族的基因表达分析，叶片形状不同的无性系个体的差异基因表达分析，以及相关物种中调控叶片复杂性的因子的克隆。这项研究的目的是识别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育成独特地适应叶片的光合作用功能的。

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.