Grass inflorescence evolution

REINHEIMER RENATA

Simposio; Monocots VI; 2018

Morphology of the grass inflorescence is known to be extremely variable among species, fascinating in its development and incredibly intriguing in its underlying genetics. Inflorescence forms displayed by grasses lead to a general assumption that its evolution is random. When the grass inflorescence morphology was analyzed comparatively on a species phylogenetic framework, we have discovered that despite appearing extremely diverse at first sight, they followed common evolutionary trends. Currently, in our laboratory we are dedicated to investigate the molecular bases that promoted such macroevolutionary changes in the inflorescences of grasses. In particular, we focused on studying molecular mechanisms that determine the final fate of the apical and axillary meristems of the inflorescences. This talk will discuss some advances made in the study of genes (most of them, transcription factors) that played a key role in the evolution of grass inflorescence forms.