The nightshade family Solanaceae holds exceptional economic and cultural importance. The early diversification of Solanaceae is thought to have occurred in South America during its separation from Gondwana, but the family's sparse fossil record provides few insights. We report 52.2-million-year-old lantern fruits from terminal-Gondwanan Patagonia, featuring highly inflated, five-lobed calyces, as a newly identified species of the derived, diverse New World genus Physalis (e.g., groundcherries and tomatillos). The fossils are considerably older than corresponding molecular divergence dates and demonstrate an ancient history for the inflated calyx syndrome. The derived position of these early Eocene fossils shows that Solanaceae were well diversified long before final Gondwanan breakup.
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Deciphering the evolutionary development of the "Chinese lantern" within Solanaceae.
Planta
September 2024
State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops/State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanxincun 20, Xiangshan, Beijing, 100093, China.
The key genetic variation underlying the evo-devo of ICS in Solanaceae may be further pinpointed using an integrated strategy of forward and reverse genetics studies under the framework of phylogeny. The calyx of Physalis remains persistent throughout fruit development. Post-flowering, the fruiting calyx is inflated rapidly to encapsulate the berry, giving rise to a "Chinese lantern" structure called inflated calyx syndrome (ICS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFlower Development in the Solanaceae.
Methods Mol Biol
August 2023
Laboratoire Reproduction et Développement des Plantes, Université de Lyon, ENS de Lyon, UCB Lyon 1, CNRS, INRAE, Lyon, France.
Flower development is the process leading from a reproductive meristem to a mature flower with fully developed floral organs. This multi-step process is complex and involves thousands of genes in intertwined regulatory pathways; navigating through the FLOR-ID website will give an impression of this complexity and of the astonishing amount of work that has been carried on the topic (Bouché et al., Nucleic Acids Res 44:D1167-D1171, 2016).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Physalis floridana genome provides insights into the biochemical and morphological evolution of Physalis fruits.
Hortic Res
November 2021
State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanxincun 20, 100093, Xiangshan, Beijing, China.
The fruits of Physalis (Solanaceae) have a unique structure, a lantern-like fruiting calyx known as inflated calyx syndrome (ICS) or the Chinese lantern, and are rich in steroid-related compounds. However, the genetic variations underlying the origin of these characteristic traits and diversity in Physalis remain largely unknown. Here, we present a high-quality chromosome-level reference genome assembly of Physalis floridana (~1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMultiple and integrated functions of floral C-class MADS-box genes in flower and fruit development of Physalis floridana.
Plant Mol Biol
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State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the roles of C-class MADS-box genes, PFAG1 and PFAG2, in the development of flowers and fruits in the Physalis plant, particularly focusing on its unique Chinese lantern structure.
- PFAG1 and PFAG2 share a significant sequence identity and similar expression patterns but differ in their roles during floral and berry development, with PFAG1 impacting pollen maturation and PFAG2 affecting female fertility.
- The findings show that while PFAG1 can repress PFAG2, both genes together are crucial for determining the identity and functionality of reproductive organs, hinting at their integrated roles in fruit size regulation and development of the Chinese lantern feature.
Physalis floridana CRABS CLAW mediates neofunctionalization of GLOBOSA genes in carpel development.
J Exp Bot
October 2021
State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanxincun 20, Xiangshan, Beijing, China.
Floral B-function MADS-box genes, such as GLOBOSA (GLO), function in corolla and stamen organ identity specification. The functions of these genes outside these floral whorls are rarely reported. DOLL1 is a GLO gene controlling corolla and androecium organ identity.
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