Format: ORAL

Jie Cheng1,2, Xu Yao1,2, Xukun Li1,2,3, Tan Qin1,2,3, Dian Yu1,2,3, Xiaofeng Yin1,2, Hongyan Shan1,2, Christopher Whitewoods4, Enrico Coen5, Hongzhi Kong1,2,3

1 State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China 2 China National Botanical Garden, Beijing 100093, China 3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China 4 Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1LR, UK 5Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UH, UK

Shape and form are basic attributes of objects. Exploring how the various shapes of Organisms were made through development and evolution is the key to understanding biodiversity. Peltate organs, such as the prey-capturing traps of carnivorous plants and nectary-bearing petals of ranunculaceous species, are widespread in nature and have intrigued and perplexed scientists for centuries. Shifts in the expression domains of adaxial/abaxial genes have been shown to control leaf peltation in some carnivorous plants, yet the mechanisms underlying the generation of other peltate organs remain unclear. Here, we show that formation of various peltate ranunculaceous petals was also caused by shifts in the expression domains of adaxial/abaxial genes, followed by differentiated regional growth sculpting the margins and/or other parts of the organs. By inducing parameters to specify the time, position, and degree of the shifts and growth, we further propose a generalized modeling system, through which various unifacial, bifacial, and peltate organs can be simulated. These results demonstrate the existence of a hierarchical morphospace system and pave the way to understand the mechanisms underlying plant organ diversification. Based on this generalized organ modelling system, we are extending it into a more powerful framework available for multiple organs as well as complex biological structures.