Evolutionary genetics of carpel development using California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) as a new model species

所有开花植物都有心皮，这是一种雌性生殖结构，包裹着卵子，随后发育成种子和果实。拟南芥是一种高级开花植物，目前正在研究模式种的心皮发育基因。但心皮的进化起源尚不清楚。在这个项目中，我们将在一种更原始的植物加利福尼亚罂粟（Eschscholzia californica）中鉴定和表征控制心皮发育的基因。这种新的模式种是一种可以进行转基因操作的基生植物。比较罂粟和拟南芥心皮基因将有助于揭示所有开花植物心皮发育的核心基因。这将使我们能够识别在不同茎的心皮发育中起同样重要作用的基因，以及那些起更特殊作用的基因。潜在的问题是由来自不同基因家族的发育基因组成的基因网络如何控制植物的发育以及这些网络如何进化导致植物结构的变化。

All flowering plants have carpels, female reproductive structures that enclose the eggs and subsequently develop into seedpods and fruits. Carpel development genes are being defined in the model species Arabidopsis, an advanced flowering plant. But the evolutionary origin of carpels is not clear. In this project, we will identify and characterize genes that control carpel development in a more primitive plant, California poppy (Eschscholzia californica). This new model species is a basal eudicot that can be manipulated transgenically. Comparison of carpel genes in poppy and Arabidopsis will help reveal core genes that underlie carpel development in all flowering plants. This will allow us to identify genes that play the same important role in carpel development across dicots, and also those that play more specialized roles. The underlying question is how gene networks, consisting of developmental genes from different gene families, govern plant development and how these networks evolve resulting in changes to plant structure.