Floral Architecture
A flower’s anatomy, as defined by the presence of a series of organs (sepals, petals, stamens and carpels) positioned according to a given pattern, facilitate sexual reproduction in flowering plants. The flower arises from the activity of three classes of genes, which regulate floral development: genes which regulate the identity of the meristem, the identity of the flower organ and finally cadastral genes.
- Meristem identity genes. Code for the transcription factors required to initiate the induction of the identity genes. They are positive regulators of organ identity during floral development.
- Organ identity genes. Directly control organ identity and also code for transcription factors that control the expression of other genes, whose products are implicated in the formation or function of the distinct organs of the flower.
- Cadastral genes. Act as spatial regulators for the organ identity genes by defining boundaries for their expression. In this way they control the extent to which genes interact thereby regulating whether they act in the same place at the same time.
Read more about this topic: ABC Model Of Flower Development
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