花的起源是进化生物学和植物学中的基本问题，长期以来备受关注。近年来，基于分子系统学和进化发育生物学领域的新进展，人们提出了一系列“分子”理论和假说，发现LEAFY（LFY）类基因和花发育MADS-box基因的进化与花的起源密切相关。然而，由于缺少两类基因之间调控关系的进化研究，我们目前还不能全面理解花起源的机制。通过整合现有结果，我们认为：E类MADS-box基因的起源和一个LFY基因拷贝的丢失所引起的花发育调控网络的变化可能是花起源的关键。为了验证这一假说，本项目拟从调控进化的角度，研究LFY类基因与花发育MADS-box基因之间调控关系的进化模式，特别关注这些基因所构成的网络在被子植物起源前后所发生的变化，最终阐明花起源的分子机制。本项目的开展有望获得一批创新性研究成果，在花起源的分子机制、花发育调控网络的进化以及基因的调控进化等问题上取得突破性进展，推进花起源相关理论的发展。

The origin of the flower is a basic issue of evolutionary biology and botany with intense investigation. In recent years, based on new advances in the fields of molecular phylogenetics and evolutionary developmental biology, several new and testable theories and hypotheses have been proposed. It was suggested that the evolution of LEAFY (LFY) genes and floral MADS-box genes are closely associated with the origin of the flower. However, due to the lack of studies on the regulatory evolution of these two types of genes, the underlying mechanisms for flower origin cannot be fully understood. By integrating all the available data, we propose that the rewiring of the regulatory network of flower development following the origin of the E-class MADS-box genes and the loss of one of the LFY copies may be the key to the origin of the flower. To test this hypothesis, we will, from a perspective of regulatory evolution, investigate the evolutionary patterns of the regulatory relationships between LFY genes and floral MADS-box genes. Special attention will be paid to the changes of the regulatory network constituted by these genes that occurred before and after the origin of angiosperms, and an attempt will be made to reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying the origin of the flower. We believe that launching of this project will yield new and exciting results, make breakthroughs in the studies of the molecular mechanism for the origin of the flower, the evolution of the regulatory network for flower development, and regulatory evolution of genes, and stimulate the development of theories related to the origin of the flower.