Abstract
During the last 15 years enormous progress had been made in understanding the genetic and molecular regulation of flower development. The classical A-B-C model, which describes how the activities of three classes of genes coding for transcription factors (A, B, C) alone or coordinately specify the different floral organs, has been expanded by class D genes involved in ovule development and class E genes required for the identities of all floral organs. The molecular quartet model advances the genetic A-B-C-D-E model by describing the presumed interactions between floral MADS-domain proteins. Although the basic developmental program appears to be quite conserved, in non-core eudicots modifications such as ``sliding-boundary'' and ``fading borders'' models had to be established. Since the identity of floral organs is strictly dependent on the activity of the MADS-box genes, duplication and diversification within these genes must have been key processes in flower evolution. Hence, insights into the phylogeny of the floral homeotic genes may help to better understand the evolution of flowers (``evo-devo'').
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