Molecular and Genetic Mechanisms of Floral Development

Dear Colleague,

Flowers are one of the most important components in the life of an angiosperm. They play a crucial role in the life cycle of sexual reproduction. Meanwhile, flowering is an essential and complex genetic regulatory event in the life cycle of plants, marking the transition of individual plants from the vegetative growth stage to the reproductive stage. The molecular and genetic mechanisms of flower development are core topics in plant developmental biology, involving multi-level synergistic effects such as gene regulatory networks, epigenetic modifications, hormone signals, and environmental responses. They form the spatio-temporal programming of multi-level regulatory networks. Floral induction is affected by environmental factors, including low-temperature vernalization, temperature, photoperiod, as well as the main autonomous regulatory pathways, such as gibberellin, autonomous, flower formation inhibition, and age-dependent. FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) transcriptional regulation integrates other important internal and external factors, and the FT protein transmits to the stem tip to induce flowering. To clarify the formation and development mechanism of floral organs, researchers have proposed the ABC model, the ABCDE model, and the tetramer model. These models partially explain the decision-making process of floral organ development. With the advancement of theory and techniques, such as epigenetics and spatial transcriptomics, we are expected to reveal more mysteries about the morphological characteristics of flowers and their regulatory mechanisms in the future.   

Dr. Kaifeng Ma
Guest Editor

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