Evolutionary developmental mechanisms underlying the origin and diversification of the fruits

Abstract

The origin and diversity of fruits are the results of the long-term adaptation of plants to terrestrial ecosystems, which is closely related to plant reproduction and adaptation to various living environments through seed dispersal. This evolutionary phenomenon and process have resulted in the origin and great prosperity of angiosperms. Dissecting the mechanisms underlying fruit origin, diversity and adaption is one of the core scientific issues in evolutionary biology. In this review, we summarized the main progress in evolutionary developmental genetics of fruit morphology (size and shape), morphological novelty of fruit accessory structures, and fruit types. The research directions and topics of future work in this field are also proposed.