Rate of meristem initiation driven by the MADS-WUS axis contributes to floral survival and inflorescence evolution in grasses
- 1Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research
Abstract
Crop domestication has repeatedly shaped inflorescence architecture to improve floral production, but mechanisms coordinating the rate of floral initiation, maturation and survival remain unclear. Combining morphometry, modelling and molecular genetic analyses, we show that floral production in the indeterminate barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) inflorescence follows an "initiate fast-die young" strategy orchestrated by a main MADS-box gene, SPIKELET INITIATION AND FERTILITY (SIF). SIF accomplishes this duality by coordinately terminating the inflorescence meristem via WUSCHEL and activating the floral meristem via APETALA1 (Vrn-H1). Hereby, the ancestral SIF "slow" allele promotes a timely commitment to floral maturation, whereas the derived "fast" allele permits more floral initiations. Postdomestication selection of SIF alleles thus enables diversified reproductive strategies in barley populations to maintain yield traits in the field. Finally, we show that a lineage-specific SIF duplication contributed to meristem fate transition and inflorescence evolution during Triticeae cold adaptation. Our results establish developmental rate as a key driver of architectural innovation and reproductive success.
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BibTeX
@misc{huang2026rate,
title = {{Rate of meristem initiation driven by the MADS-WUS axis contributes to floral survival and inflorescence evolution in grasses}},
author = {Y. Huang and S. Zhao and G. Jiang and C. Hertig and A. Shalmani and D. Peng and K. Tan and T. Rutten and Z. Zhu and J. Kan and A. Maurer and V. Rabesquine Nogueira and A. S. Camara and P. Yang and K. Pillen and R. F. H. Giehl and J. Kumlehn and R. Koppolu and T. Schnurbusch},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.64898/2026.08.31.748292},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.748292v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Rate of meristem initiation driven by the MADS-WUS axis contributes to floral survival and inflorescence evolution in grasses
AU - Y. Huang
AU - S. Zhao
AU - G. Jiang
AU - C. Hertig
AU - A. Shalmani
AU - D. Peng
AU - K. Tan
AU - T. Rutten
AU - Z. Zhu
AU - J. Kan
AU - A. Maurer
AU - V. Rabesquine Nogueira
AU - A. S. Camara
AU - P. Yang
AU - K. Pillen
AU - R. F. H. Giehl
AU - J. Kumlehn
AU - R. Koppolu
AU - T. Schnurbusch
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/31
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.08.31.748292
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.748292v1
AB - Crop domestication has repeatedly shaped inflorescence architecture to improve floral production, but mechanisms coordinating the rate of floral initiation, maturation and survival remain unclear. Combining morphometry, modelling and molecular genetic analyses, we show that floral production in the indeterminate barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) inflorescence follows an "initiate fast-die young" strategy orchestrated by a main MADS-box gene, SPIKELET INITIATION AND FERTILITY (SIF). SIF accomplishes this duality by coordinately terminating the inflorescence meristem via WUSCHEL and activating the floral meristem via APETALA1 (Vrn-H1). Hereby, the ancestral SIF "slow" allele promotes a timely commitment to floral maturation, whereas the derived "fast" allele permits more floral initiations. Postdomestication selection of SIF alleles thus enables diversified reproductive strategies in barley populations to maintain yield traits in the field. Finally, we show that a lineage-specific SIF duplication contributed to meristem fate transition and inflorescence evolution during Triticeae cold adaptation. Our results establish developmental rate as a key driver of architectural innovation and reproductive success.
ER -