BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Floral quartets link flower development and evolution - Günter Th
 eißen (Friedrich Schiller University of Jena)
DTSTART:20140312T130000Z
DTEND:20140312T140000Z
UID:TALK50101@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jeremy Solly
DESCRIPTION:According to the ‘floral quartet model’ the identities of 
 the different floral organs are specified during development by specific t
 etrameric complexes of transcription factors\; these tetramers bind to two
  cis-regulatory elements (CArG-boxes)\, thereby looping the DNA in between
  them. Intriguingly\, the protein constituents of floral quartets are all 
 encoded by paralogous\, seed plant-specific MIKC-type MADS-domain proteins
 . The floral quartet model thus provides an excellent starting point for i
 nvestigations on the molecular mechanisms underlying the evolution of the 
 angiosperm flower in the framework of evo-devo. We use methods ranging fro
 m molecular biophysics to phylogenomics to better understand the origin an
 d functionality of floral quartets and their contributions to the evolutio
 n of flowers. Our data suggest that the capacity to constitute floral quar
 tet-like complexes is an ancestral feature of homologues of floral homeoti
 c proteins that had already been established in the most recent common anc
 estor of extant angiosperms and gymnosperms 300 million years ago. I’ll 
 discuss data suggesting that by changes in the protein-protein and protein
 -DNA interactions of floral homeotic proteins\, target gene specificity an
 d developmental robustness have been improved. This way more efficient ‘
 developmental switches’ may have originated that facilitated the origin 
 and diversification of the angiosperm flower during evolution. 
LOCATION:Part II Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR