花器官的排列方式是花的重要属性之一，主要分为轮状和螺旋状两种类型。在被子植物的演化过程中，花器官排列方式曾多次发生转变，直接或间接地促进了被子植物的繁盛。已有研究表明，花器官排列方式的建立既可能与花分生组织的决定和调控以及花器官身份的决定等过程相互联系，又可能涉及对叶序调控程序的招募。然而，由于缺乏合适的研究体系，目前对花器官排列方式分子机制的了解较少。毛茛科既有螺旋状花又有轮状花，而且花器官排列方式的转变在该科植物的演化过程中多次发生，是研究花器官排列方式的理想材料。本项目拟在已有工作的基础上，以毛茛科中具有轮状排列花器官的耧斗菜属植物和具有螺旋状排列花器官的黑种草属植物为研究材料，运用进化发育生物学的研究手段，并借助计算机模拟，鉴定控制花器官排列方式的关键基因和调控网络，揭示导致花器官排列方式改变的分子机制，探讨被子植物演化过程中花器官排列方式改变的普遍规律及其适应性意义。

Phyllotaxy is one of the most important attributes of a flower and can be divided into two main types, i.e. spiral and whorled. During the evolution of flowering plants, transition from spiral to whorled floral phyllotaxy seems to have occurred independently in different lineages, and has directly or indirectly contributed to the success of angiosperms. Previous studies have shown that the establishment of floral phylltaxy is possibly not only correlated to the determination and regulation of floral meristems and the specification of floral organ identities, but also involved in the recruitment of the regulatory programs for leaf phyllotaxy. However, due to the lack of suitable model systems, very little is known about the molecular mechanisms of floral phyllotaxy. The Ranunculaceae is an excellent system for studying floral phyllotaxy because it contains species that produce spiral flowers as well as those that produce whorled flowers. In this project, on the base of our previous work, we propose to use members of Nigella and Aquilegia, the two genera with spiral and whorled floral phyllotaxy, respectively, as model species, utilize the evolutionary developmental (evo-devo) approaches together with computer modeling, identify key genes and gene regulatory networks controlling floral phyllotaxy, reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying the transitions between spiral and whorled floral phyllotaxy, and discuss the universal laws and adaptive significance of changes in floral phyllotaxy during angiosperm evolution.