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An evolutionary scenario for the origin of flowers

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 4, pages 559–566 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

The Mostly Male theory is the first to use evidence from gene phylogenies, genetics, modern plant morphology and fossils to explain the evolutionary origin of flowers. It proposes that flower organization derives more from the male structures of ancestral gymnosperms than from female structures. The theory arose from a hypothesis-based study. Such studies are the most likely to generate testable evolutionary scenarios, which should be the ultimate goal of evo-devo.

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Figure 1: LFY gene tree superimposed on the tree representing the phylogeny of organisms.
Figure 2: The continuum of developmental genetic mechanisms that could have generated the bisexual flower from ancestral unisexual reproductive structures.
Figure 3: Illustration of the evolutionary stages of the Mostly Male theory.
Figure 4: Ovules and cupules.
Figure 5: Relationships of the B and Bsister MADS-box genes.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank E. Meyerowitz, in whose laboratory this work began, J. Trager of Huntington Gardens, San Marino, California, and L. Song of the University of California, Fullerton, for Welwitschia materials, and two anonymous reviewers. This work is supported by a National Science Foundation grant.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK

    Michael W. Frohlich

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  1. Michael W. Frohlich
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DATABASES

MaizeGDB

rolled leaf 1

TAIR

INO

LFY

STM

FURTHER INFORMATION

Floral Genome Project

Glossary

CARPEL

A leaf homologue that encloses the ovules and seeds in angiosperms and develops into the fruit.

CHAROPHYTES

The group of green algae that are most closely related to land plants.

CLADISTICS

The approach for analysing organismal or gene diversity that uses explicit characters and character states, which are mapped onto branching diagrams that explicitly mirror possible phylogenetic relationships.

CLADOGRAM

A branching diagram that represents organismal or gene phylogeny.

EVOLUTIONARY SYNTHESIS

The movement to deepen the understanding of Darwinian evolution by incorporating knowledge from different fields, including genetics, population genetics, ecology and so on.

GYMNOSPERMS

Plants that make ovules and seeds but lack flowers. There are four extant groups: conifers, cycads, Ginkgo and Gnetales.

HETEROTOPY

An evolutionary process in which a particular structure of an organism forms in new location.

LONG BRANCH

An internode in a phylogenetic tree in which large amounts of character-state change have occured.

MAD-BOX GENES

Eukaryotic genes that have the MADS-box DNA-binding domain.

MONOPHYLETIC

A group of organisms or genes descended from a common ancestor that is a member of the group, which includes all descendents of that common ancestor.

ORTHOLOGUES

Two or more genes (or gene families) that became distinct lineages as the result of a speciation event.

OUTGROUP

A group of organisms or genes that is outside the monophyletic group under consideration.

PARALOGUES

Two or more genes (or gene families) that became distinct lineages owing to a gene-duplication event in an organism.

PERMINERALIZED

A plant fossil resulting from mineral deposition in the cells and tissues of the specimen, which often preserves the cell walls and tissue structure.

PHYLLARIES

Modified leaves that surround the dense flower clusters (heads) of plants in the sunflower family.

SEPAL

The outer-most group of organs in a flower.

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Frohlich, M. An evolutionary scenario for the origin of flowers. Nat Rev Genet 4, 559–566 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1114

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