Evolutionary conservation of angiosperm flower development at the molecular and genetic levels

Flowers consist primarily of four basic organ types whose relative positions are universally conserved within the angiosperms. A model has been proposed to explain how a small number of regulatory genes, acting alone and in combination, specify floral organ identity. This model, known widely as the ABC model of flower development, is based on molecular genetic experiments in two model organisms, Arabidopsis thaliana and Antirrhinum majus. Both of these species are considered to be eudicots, a clade within the angiosperms with a relatively conserved floral architecture. In this review, the application of the ABC model derived from studies of these typical eudicot species is considered with respect to angiosperms whose floral structure deviates from that of the eudicots. It is concluded that the model is universally applicable to the angiosperms as a whole, and the enormous diversity seen among angiosperms flowers is due to genetic pathways that are downstream, or independent, of the genetic programme that specifies floral organ identity.