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Despite great strides during the preceding 3 decades, the ability to consistently eliminate postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) continues to elude anesthesia practitioners. The occurrence of PONV related to anesthesia and surgery prolongs hospital stays and increases healthcare costs. Protracted recovery times place constraints on patients, healthcare systems, and healthcare financiers. Many pharmacological antiemetics have been developed and are in use in the attempt to alleviate PONV. Side effects and cost profiles of many of these interventions, however, reinforce the broadly held belief that there remains opportunity for improvement. Because the Western culture almost exclusively favors evidence- based scientific practice and interventions, the search continues for an ideal, cost-effective, safe, and efficacious pharmacological agent to prevent PONV. Eastern culture, on the other hand, relies heavily on naturopathic remedies whose successful use has spanned thousands of years. Increasing attention has been given to the potential benefits of nonpharmacological intervention for the prevention of PONV in association with anesthesia care. Therefore, the purpose of this AANA Journal course wilt he to focus attention on what is known and what is unknown in the literature regarding use of the nonallopathic remedy of acupressure as a nonpharmacological alternative to commonly utilized antiemetic prophylaxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to systematically review the instruments used to obtain anesthesia-specific patient satisfaction data and to determine the degree to which each instrument controlled for measurement error bias, such as poor survey design. By using an assessment and evaluation tool developed for the present study that held proven internal reliability and construct validity, we analyzed and scored each instrument according to the presence or absence of measurement error in survey design. We found that a paucity of anesthesia-specific patient satisfaction studies exists and that patient satisfaction studies dealing with anesthesia care were erratically defined, nonstandardized, and imprecise regarding intent and method. Moreover, the simple rating forms used in most of the reviewed studies were inadequate to achieve the goal of measuring the quality of anesthesia care. One instrument, the Iowa Satisfaction With Anesthesia Scale (ISAS), developed by Dexter et al (1997), was the first found to inculcate scientifically accepted psychometric item construction algorithms, an indicator of measurement reliability. Although the ISAS holds substantial potential for future application in this realm, we recommend that it be refined further and that the search for a superlative instrument to obtain anesthesia-specific patient satisfaction continue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grasses are fundamental to human survival, providing a large percentage of our calories, fuel, and fodder for livestock, and an enormous global carbon sink. A particularly important part of the grass plant is the grain-producing inflorescence that develops in response to both internal and external signals that converge at the shoot tip to influence meristem behavior. Abiotic signals that trigger reproductive development vary across the grass family, mostly due to the unique ecological and phylogenetic histories of each clade. The time it takes a grass to flower has implications for its ability to escape harsh environments, while also indirectly affecting abiotic stress tolerance, inflorescence architecture, and grain yield. Here, we synthesize recent insights into the evolution of grass flowering time in response to past climate change, particularly focusing on genetic convergence in underlying traits. We then discuss how and why the rewiring of a shared ancestral flowering pathway affects grass yields, and outline ways in which researchers are using this and other information to breed higher yielding, climate-proof cereal crops., (© 2024 The Author(s). New Phytologist © 2024 New Phytologist Foundation.)

Vernalization-responsive plants use cold weather, or low temperature, as a cue to monitoring the passing of winter. Winter cereals can remember the extent of coldness they have experienced, even when winter is punctuated by warm days. However, in a seemingly unnatural process called "devernalization," hot temperatures can erase winter memory. Previous studies in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) have implicated the MADS-box transcription factor VEGETATIVE TO REPRODUCTIVE TRANSITION 2 (VRT2) in vernalization based on transcriptional behavior and ectopic expression. Here, we characterized 3 BdVRT2 loss-of-function alleles in the temperate model grass Brachypodium distachyon. In addition to extended vernalization requirements, mutants showed delayed flowering relative to wild-type plants when exposed only briefly to warm temperatures after partial vernalization, with flowering being unaffected when vernalization was saturating. Together, these data suggest a role for BdVRT2 in both vernalization and in its reinitiation when interrupted by warm temperatures. In controlled constant conditions, BdVRT2 transcription was not strongly affected by vernalization or devernalization. Yet, by monitoring BdVRT2 expression in seasonally varying and fluctuating conditions in an unheated greenhouse, we observed strong upregulation, suggesting that its transcription is regulated by fluctuating vernalizing-devernalizing conditions. Our data suggest that devernalization by hot temperatures is not a peculiarity of domesticated cereal crops but is the extreme of the reversibility of vernalization by warm temperatures and has broader biological relevance across temperate grasses., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement. None declared., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Society of Plant Biologists.)

Frost tolerance has evolved many times independently across flowering plants. However, conservation of several frost tolerance mechanisms among distant relatives suggests that apparently independent entries into freezing climates may have been facilitated by repeated modification of existing traits ('precursor traits'). One possible precursor trait for freezing tolerance is drought tolerance, because palaeoclimatic data suggest plants were exposed to drought before frost and several studies have demonstrated shared physiological and genetic responses to drought and frost stress. Here, we combine ecophysiological experiments and comparative analyses to test the hypothesis that drought tolerance acted as a precursor to frost tolerance in cool-season grasses (Pooideae). Contrary to our predictions, we measured the highest levels of frost tolerance in species with the lowest ancestral drought tolerance, indicating that the two stress responses evolved independently in different lineages. We further show that drought tolerance is more evolutionarily labile than frost tolerance. This could limit our ability to reconstruct the order in which drought and frost responses evolved relative to each other. Further research is needed to determine whether our results are unique to Pooideae or general for flowering plants., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.)

Background and Aims: Pooideae grasses contain some of the world's most important crop and forage species. Although much work has been conducted on understanding the genetic basis of trait diversification within a few annual Pooideae, comparative studies at the subfamily level are limited by a lack of perennial models outside 'core' Pooideae. We argue for development of the perennial non-core genus Melica as an additional model for Pooideae, and provide foundational data regarding the group's biogeography and history of character evolution., Methods: Supplementing available ITS and ndhF sequence data, we built a preliminary Bayesian-based Melica phylogeny, and used it to understand how the genus has diversified in relation to geography, climate and trait variation surveyed from various floras. We also determine biomass accumulation under controlled conditions for Melica species collected across different latitudes and compare inflorescence development across two taxa for which whole genome data are forthcoming., Key Results: Our phylogenetic analyses reveal three strongly supported geographically structured Melica clades that are distinct from previously hypothesized subtribes. Despite less geographical affinity between clades, the two sister 'Ciliata' and 'Imperfecta' clades segregate from the more phylogenetically distant 'Nutans' clade in thermal climate variables and precipitation seasonality, with the 'Imperfecta' clade showing the highest levels of trait variation. Growth rates across Melica are positively correlated with latitude of origin. Variation in inflorescence morphology appears to be explained largely through differences in secondary branch distance, phyllotaxy and number of spikelets per secondary branch., Conclusions: The data presented here and in previous studies suggest that Melica possesses many of the necessary features to be developed as an additional model for Pooideae grasses, including a relatively fast generation time, perenniality, and interesting variation in physiology and morphology. The next step will be to generate a genome-based phylogeny and transformation tools for functional analyses., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Temperate Pooideae are a large clade of economically important grasses distributed in some of the Earth's coldest and driest terrestrial environments. Previous studies have inferred that Pooideae diversified from their tropical ancestors in a cold montane habitat, suggesting that above-freezing cold (chilling) tolerance evolved early in the subfamily. By contrast, drought tolerance is hypothesized to have evolved multiple times independently in response to global aridification that occurred after the split of Pooideae tribes. To independently test predictions of the chilling-before-drought hypothesis in Pooideae, we assessed conservation of whole plant and gene expression traits in response to chilling vs. drought. We demonstrated that both trait responses are more similar across tribes in cold as compared to drought, suggesting that chilling responses evolved before, and drought responses after, tribe diversification. Moreover, we found significantly more overlap between drought and chilling responsive genes within a species than between drought responsive genes across species, providing evidence that chilling tolerance genes acted as precursors for the novel acquisition of increased drought tolerance multiple times independently, partially through the cooption of chilling responsive genes., (© 2022 The Authors. Molecular Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Flowering in response to low temperatures (vernalization) has evolved multiple times independently across angiosperms as an adaptation to match reproductive development with the short growing season of temperate habitats. Despite the context of a generally conserved flowering time network, evidence suggests that the genes underlying vernalization responsiveness are distinct across major plant clades. Whether different or similar mechanisms underlie vernalization-induced flowering at narrower (e.g., family-level) phylogenetic scales is not well understood. To test the hypothesis that vernalization responsiveness has evolved convergently in temperate species of the grass family (Poaceae), we carried out flowering time experiments with and without vernalization in several representative species from different subfamilies. We then determined the likelihood that vernalization responsiveness evolved through parallel mechanisms by quantifying the response of Pooideae vernalization pathway FRUITFULL (FUL)-like genes to extended periods of cold. Our results demonstrate that vernalization-induced flowering has evolved multiple times independently in at least five grass subfamilies, and that different combinations of FUL-like genes have been recruited to this pathway on several occasions., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: After a Design Team (DT) conducted a workforce health assessment of correctional supervisors, they selected sleep as an intervention priority, given its numerous health and work consequences. Existing workplace sleep interventions are designed with little worker input, but participatory solutions that incorporate workers' lived experiences and root causes of poor sleep may be more relevant, appropriate, and acceptable to end-users, resulting in better uptake., Methods: The DT met bi-monthly to complete the Intervention Design and Analysis Scorecard (IDEAS) tool to brainstorm interventions that address root causes of poor sleep, and evaluate, rank, and select interventions for implementation. We conducted a qualitative review of meeting notes and worksheets from each IDEAS step, and present our findings on root causes and prioritized solutions., Results: The DT consisted of two university researchers and seven members of a correctional supervisors' union, with 5-9 participants attending each meeting. IDEAS Steps 1-5 were completed in eight meetings over six months. Root causes of poor sleep included mind/body and environmental disruptions, and insufficient time. Three solutions were proposed: training on sleep hygiene, meditation, and sleep debt management; a sleep-tracking smartphone app; and a shared overtime policy based on splitting one 8-hour shift between two supervisors., Conclusions: This is the first known application of IDEAS to address sleep, and targeting root causes may result in more efficacious interventions for sleep improvement. Moreover, because IDEAS guides DTs in selecting solutions with the greatest perceived health benefits, reach, cost-effectiveness, and feasibility, it may result in more successful implementation., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Despite most angiosperms being perennial, once-flowering annuals have evolved multiple times independently, making life history traits among the most labile trait syndromes in flowering plants. Much research has focused on discerning the adaptive forces driving the evolution of annual species, and in pinpointing traits that distinguish them from perennials. By contrast, little is known about how 'annual traits' evolve, and whether the same traits and genes have evolved in parallel to affect independent origins of the annual syndrome. Here, we review what is known about the distribution of annuals in both phylogenetic and environmental space and assess the evidence for parallel evolution of annuality through similar physiological, developmental, and/or genetic mechanisms. We then use temperate grasses as a case study for modeling the evolution of annuality and suggest future directions for understanding annual-perennial transitions in other groups of plants. Understanding how convergent life history traits evolve can help predict species responses to climate change and allows transfer of knowledge between model and agriculturally important species., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Hjertaas, Preston, Kainulainen, Humphreys and Fjellheim.)

Endomembrane trafficking is essential for plant growth and often depends on a balance between secretory and endocytic pathways. VPS26C is a component of the retriever complex which has been shown to function in the recycling of integral plasma membrane proteins in human cell culture and is part of a core retriever complex in Arabidopsis that is required for root hair growth. In this work, we report a characterization of the Arabidopsis homologues of CCDC22 and CCDC93, two additional proteins required for retriever function in humans. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that CCDC22 (AT1G55830) and CCDC93 (AT4G32560) are single copy genes in plants that are present across the angiosperms, but like VPS26C , are absent from the grasses. Both CCDC22 and CCDC93 are required for root and root hair growth in Arabidopsis and localize primarily to the cytoplasm in root epidermal cells. Previous work has demonstrated a genetic interaction between VPS26C function and a VTI13-dependent trafficking pathway to the vacuole. To further test this model, we characterized the vti13 ccdc93 double mutant and show that like vps26c , ccdc93 is a suppressor of the vti13 root hair phenotype. Together this work identifies two new proteins essential for root and root hair growth in plants and demonstrate that the endosomal pathway(s) in which CCDC93 functions is genetically linked to a VTI13-dependent trafficking pathway to the vacuole., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Lewis, Preston and Tierney.)

Evidence suggests that anthropogenically-mediated global warming results in accelerated flowering for many plant populations. However, the fact that some plants are late flowering or unaffected by warming, underscores the complex relationship between phase change, temperature, and phylogeny. In this review, we present an emerging picture of how plants sense temperature changes, and then discuss the independent recruitment of ancient flowering pathway genes for the evolution of ambient, low, and high temperature-regulated reproductive development. As well as revealing areas of research required for a better understanding of how past thermal climates have shaped global patterns of plasticity in plant phase change, we consider the implications for these phenological thermal responses in light of climate change., (© American Society of Plant Biologists 2022. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective: A team of academics and unionized correctional supervisors collaborated to assess workforce health and determine intervention priorities using participatory methods and tools., Methods: Correctional supervisors took a web-based survey. Univariate and bivariate tests examined attitudes/behaviors, exposures, and outcomes most strongly associated with health; risk based on rank within chain-of-command; and health behaviors amenable to change. We used a voting process tool to prioritize intervention topics., Results: Some health behaviors and outcomes were poor (89% overweight/ obese, 41% poor-quality sleep). We also found favorable health behaviors (annual check-ups) and psychosocial conditions (meaningful work). Some health risks (excessive overtime) were not amenable to change or resisted acknowledgment (poor mental health). The team voted to develop interventions on sleep, mental health, and obesity., Conclusions: Comprehensive health assessment informed the prioritization process, enabling the team to quickly reach consensus on intervention priorities., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: None declared., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)

The external cues that trigger timely flowering vary greatly across tropical and temperate plant taxa, the latter relying on predictable seasonal fluctuations in temperature and photoperiod. In the grass family (Poaceae) for example, species of the subfamily Pooideae have become specialists of the northern temperate hemisphere, generating the hypothesis that their progenitor evolved a flowering response to long days from a short-day or day-neutral ancestor. Sampling across the Pooideae, we found support for this hypothesis, and identified several secondary shifts to day-neutral flowering and one to short-day flowering in a tropical highland clade. To explain the proximate mechanisms for the secondary transition back to short-day-regulated flowering, we investigated the expression of CCT domain genes, some of which are known to repress flowering in cereal grasses under specific photoperiods. We found a shift in CONSTANS 1 and CONSTANS 9 expression that coincides with the derived short-day photoperiodism of our exemplar species Nassella pubiflora. This sets up the testable hypothesis that trans- or cis-regulatory elements of these CCT domain genes were the targets of selection for major niche shifts in Pooideae grasses., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.)

A major way that organisms can adapt to changing environmental conditions is by evolving increased or decreased phenotypic plasticity. In the face of current global warming, more attention is being paid to the role of plasticity in maintaining fitness as abiotic conditions change over time. However, given that temporal data can be challenging to acquire, a major question is whether evolution in plasticity across space can predict adaptive plasticity across time. In growth chambers simulating two thermal regimes, we generated transcriptome data for western North American scarlet monkeyflowers (Mimulus cardinalis) collected from different latitudes and years (2010 and 2017) to test hypotheses about how plasticity in gene expression is responding to increases in temperature, and if this pattern is consistent across time and space. Supporting the genetic compensation hypothesis, individuals whose progenitors were collected from the warmer-origin northern 2017 descendant cohort showed lower thermal plasticity in gene expression than their cooler-origin northern 2010 ancestors. This was largely due to a change in response at the warmer (40°C) rather than cooler (20°C) treatment. A similar pattern of reduced plasticity, largely due to a change in response at 40°C, was also found for the cooler-origin northern versus the warmer-origin southern population from 2017. Our results demonstrate that reduced phenotypic plasticity can evolve with warming and that spatial and temporal changes in plasticity predict one another., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background and Aims: Grasses in subfamily Pooideae live in some of the world's harshest terrestrial environments, from frigid boreal zones to the arid windswept steppe. It is hypothesized that the climate distribution of species within this group is driven by differences in climatic tolerance, and that tolerance can be partially explained by variation in stomatal traits., Methods: We determined the aridity index (AI) and minimum temperature of the coldest month (MTCM) for 22 diverse Pooideae accessions and one outgroup, and used comparative methods to assess predicted relationships for climate traits versus fitness traits, stomatal diffusive conductance to water (gw) and speed of stomatal closure following drought and/or cold., Key Results: Results demonstrate that AI and MTCM predict variation in survival/regreening following drought/cold, and gw under drought/cold is positively correlated with δ 13C-measured water use efficiency (WUE). However, the relationship between climate traits and fitness under drought/cold was not explained by gw or speed of stomatal closure., Conclusions: These findings suggest that Pooideae distributions are at least partly determined by tolerance to aridity and above-freezing cold, but that variation in tolerance is not uniformly explained by variation in stomatal traits., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Introduction: The correctional workforce experiences persistent health problems, and interventions designed with worker participation show favorable outcomes. However, participatory intervention research often leaves workers out of the health needs assessment, the basis of interventions subsequently developed. This omission risks failure to detect factors contributing to the health and is less likely to result in primary prevention interventions., Methods: Partnering with a correctional supervisors' union, we followed Schulz and colleagues' community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods for participatory survey design and used Healthy Workplace Participatory Program (HWPP) tools to develop a tailored survey to assess workforce health and contributing factors. Utilizing the HWPP Focus Group Guide, we generated key themes to adapt the HWPP All Employee Survey, a generic workforce health assessment, to become thorough and contextually-relevant for correctional supervisors., Results: Content analysis of focus group data revealed 12 priority health concerns and contributors, including organizational culture, masculinity, work-family conflict, family support, trauma, positive job aspects, health literacy and efficacy, health/risk behaviors, sleep, obesity, and prioritizing work and income over health. Twenty-six measures were added to the generic survey, mainly health-related antecedents including knowledge, attitudes, norms, and motivation., Conclusion: Findings yielded new insights about supervisors' lived experiences of work and health, and resulted in a customized workforce survey. CBPR methods and HWPP tools allowed us to identify health issues that we would not have detected with conventional methods, and provide opportunities for interventions that address root causes of poor health. We share challenges faced and lessons learned using CBPR with the correctional workforce., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

The development of plant model organisms has traditionally been analyzed using resource-heavy, tailored applications that are not easily transferable to distantly related non-model taxa. Thus, our understanding of plant development has been limited to a subset of traits, and evolutionary studies conducted most effectively either across very wide [e.g. Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa (rice)] or narrow (i.e. population level) phylogenetic distances. As plant biologists seek to capitalize on natural diversity for crop improvement, enhance ecosystem functioning, and better understand plant responses to climate change, high-throughput and broadly applicable forms of existing molecular biology assays are becoming an invaluable resource. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is increasingly becoming a powerful tool in evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) studies, particularly through its application to understanding trait evolution at different levels of gene regulation. Here, I review some of the most common and emerging NGS-based methods, using exemplar studies in reproductive plant evo-devo to illustrate their potential., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Semelparous annual plants flower a single time during their 1-yr life cycle, investing much of their energy into rapid reproduction. By contrast, iteroparous perennial plants flower multiple times over several years, and partition their resources between reproduction and persistence. To which extent evolutionary transitions between life-cycle strategies are internally constrained at the developmental, genetic and phylogenetic level is unknown. Here we study the evolution of life-cycle strategies in the grass subfamily Pooideae and test if transitions between them are facilitated by evolutionary precursors. We integrate ecological, life-cycle strategy and growth data in a phylogenetic framework. We investigate if growth traits are candidates for a precursor. Species in certain Pooideae clades are predisposed to evolve annuality from perenniality, potentially due to the shared inheritance of specific evolutionary precursors. Seasonal dry climates, which have been linked to annuality, were only able to select for transitions to annuality when the precursor was present. Allocation of more resources to above-ground rather than below-ground growth is a candidate for the precursor. Our findings support the hypothesis that only certain lineages can respond quickly to changing external conditions by switching their life-cycle strategy, likely due to the presence of evolutionary precursors., (© 2020 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2020 New Phytologist Trust.)

Since their origin in the early Cretaceous, grasses have diversified across every continent on Earth, with a handful of species (rice [ Oryza sativa ], maize [ Zea mays ], and wheat [ Triticum aestivum ]) providing most of the caloric intake of contemporary humans and their livestock. The ecological dominance of grasses can be attributed to a number of physiological innovations, many of which contributed to shifts from closed to open habitats that incur daily (e.g. tropical mountains) and/or seasonal extremes in temperature (e.g. temperate/continental regions) and precipitation (e.g. tropical savannas). In addition to strategies that allow them to tolerate or resist periodically stressful environments, plants can adopt escape behaviors by modifying the relative timing of distinct development phases. Flowering time is one of these behaviors that can also act as a postzygotic barrier to reproduction and allow temporal partitioning of resources to promote coexistence. In this review, we explore what is known about the phylogenetic pattern of flowering control in grasses, and how this relates to broad- and fine-scale niche transitions within the family. We then synthesize recent findings on the genetic basis of flowering time evolution as a way to begin deciphering why certain aspects of flowering are seemingly so conserved, and what the implications of this are for future adaptation under climate change., (© 2020 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.)

Angiosperm petal fusion (sympetaly) has evolved multiple times independently and is associated with increased specificity between plants and their pollinators. To uncover developmental genetic changes that might have led to the evolution of sympetaly in the asterid core eudicot genus Petunia (Solanaceae), we carried out global and fine-scale gene expression analyses in different regions of the corolla. We found that, despite several similarities with the choripetalous model species Arabidopsis thaliana in the proximal-distal transcriptome, the Petunia axillaris fused and proximal corolla tube expresses several genes that in A. thaliana are associated with the distal petal region. This difference aligns with variation in petal shape and fusion across ontogeny of the two species. Moreover, differential gene expression between the unfused lobes and fused tube of P. axillaris petals revealed three strong candidate genes for sympetaly based on functional annotation in organ boundary specification. Partial silencing of one of these, the HANABA TARANU (HAN)-like gene PhGATA19, resulted in reduced fusion of Petunia hybrida petals, with silencing of both PhGATA19 and its close paralog causing premature plant senescence. Finally, detailed expression analyses for the previously characterized organ boundary gene candidate NO APICAL MERISTEM (NAM) supports the hypothesis that it establishes boundaries between most P. axillaris floral organs, with the exception of boundaries between petals., (© 2019 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Understanding the evolution of novel features requires homology assessments at different levels of biological organization. In flowering plants, floral coronas that play various roles in plant-pollinator interactions have evolved multiple times independently, but are highly variable in their final position and overall morphology. Coronas of the Solanaceae species Jaltomata calliantha are found between the corolla and stamens, adjacent to the gynoecium, and form cups that house copious amounts of their characteristic blood red nectar. To test the hypothesis that J. calliantha coronas evolved as an outgrowth of stamens and therefore have staminal identity, we assessed their development, floral organ identity gene expression, and cellular morphology., Results: Jaltomata calliantha coronas emerge after the initiation of all conventional floral organs on the abaxial side of the proximally modified stamens and then expand medially and laterally to form nectar cups. Overlapping expression of the B-class organ identity genes JcAPETALA3 and both JcPISTILLATA/GLOBOSA orthologs ( JcGLO1 and JcGLO2 ), and the C-class-like gene JcAGAMOUS1 -like, unites the stamens and corona. Epidermal cell shape also connects the adaxial surface of coronas and petals, and the stamen base, with remaining floral organs showing divergent cell types., Conclusions: Our data, based on multiple lines of evidence, support a largely staminal origin for J. calliantha coronas. However, since slightly enlarged stamen bases are found in Jaltomata species that lack coronas, and J. calliantha stamen bases share cell types with petals, we hypothesize that stamen bases recruited part of the petal identity program prior to fully expanding into a corona., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Angiosperm adaptations to seasonally cold climates have occurred multiple times independently. However, the observation that less than half of all angiosperm families are represented in temperate latitudes suggests internal constraints on the evolution of cold tolerance/avoidance strategies. Similar to angiosperms as a whole, grasses are primarily tropical, but one major clade, subfamily Pooideae, radiated extensively within temperate regions. It is posited that this Pooideae niche transition was facilitated by an early origin of long-term cold responsiveness around the base of the subfamily, and that a set of more ancient pathways enabled evolution of seasonal cold tolerance. To test this, we compared transcriptome-level responses of disparate Pooideae to short-/long-term cold and with those previously known in the subtropical grass rice (Ehrhartoideae). Analyses identified several highly conserved cold-responsive 'orthogroups' within our focal Pooideae species that originated successively during the diversification of land plants, predominantly via gene duplication. The majority of conserved Pooideae cold-responsive genes appear to have ancient roles in stress responses, with most of the orthogroups also being sensitive to cold in rice. However, a subgroup of genes was likely co-opted de novo early in the Pooideae. These results highlight a plausible stepwise evolutionary trajectory for cold adaptations across Pooideae., (© 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.)

Background: Heterochronic shifts during mid- to late stages of organismal development have been proposed as key mechanisms generating phenotypic diversity. To determine whether late heterochronic shifts underlie derived floral morphologies within Jaltomata (Solanaceae)-a genus whose species have extensive and recently evolved floral diversity-we compared floral development of four diverse species (including an ambiguously ancestral or secondarily derived rotate, two putatively independently evolved campanulate, and a tubular morph) to the ancestral rotate floral form, as well as to an outgroup that shares this ancestral floral morphology., Results: We determined that early floral development (< 1 mm bud diameter, corresponding to completion of organ whorl initiation) is very similar among all species, but that different mature floral forms are distinguishable by mid-development (> 1 mm diameter) due to differential growth acceleration of corolla traits. Floral ontogeny among similar mature rotate forms remains comparable until late stages, while somewhat different patterns of organ growth are found between species with similar campanulate forms., Conclusions: Our data suggest shared floral patterning during early-stage development, but that different heterochronic shifts during mid- and late-stage development contribute to divergent floral traits. Heterochrony thus appears to have been important in the rapid and repeated diversification of Jaltomata flowers.

Flowering time is a carefully regulated trait controlled primarily through the action of the central genetic regulator, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT). Recently it was demonstrated that a microRNA, miR5200, targets the end of the second exon of FT under short-day photoperiods in the grass subfamily Pooideae, thus preventing FT transcripts from reaching threshold levels under non-inductive conditions. Pooideae are an interesting group in that they rapidly diversified from the tropics into the northern temperate region during a major global cooling event spanning the Eocene-Oligocene transition. We hypothesize that miR5200 photoperiod-sensitive regulation of Pooideae flowering time networks assisted their transition into northern seasonal environments. Here, we test predictions derived from this hypothesis that miR5200, originally found in bread wheat and later identified in Brachypodium distachyon, (1) was present in the genome of the Pooideae common ancestor, (2) is transcriptionally regulated by photoperiod, and (3) is negatively correlated with FT transcript abundance, indicative of miR5200 regulating FT. Our results demonstrate that miR5200 did evolve at or around the base of Pooideae, but only acquired photoperiod-regulated transcription within the Brachypodium lineage. Based on expression profiles and previous data, we posit that the progenitor of miR5200 was co-regulated with FT by an unknown mechanism., (Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: Independent evolution of derived complex characters provides a unique opportunity to assess whether and how similar genetic changes correlate with morphological convergence. Bilaterally symmetrical corollas have evolved multiple times independently from radially symmetrical ancestors and likely represent adaptations to attract specific pollinators. On the other hand, losses of bilateral corolla symmetry have occurred sporadically in various groups, due to either modification of bilaterally symmetrical corollas in late development or early establishment of radial symmetry., Methods: This study integrated phylogenetic, scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-based morphological, and gene expression approaches to assess the possible mechanisms underlying independent evolutionary losses of corolla bilateral symmetry., Key Results: This work compared three species of Lamiaceae having radially symmetrical mature corollas with a representative sister taxon having bilaterally symmetrical corollas and found that each reaches radial symmetry in a different way. Higher core Lamiales share a common duplication in the CYCLOIDEA (CYC ) 2 gene lineage and show conserved and asymmetrical expression of CYC2 clade and RAD genes along the adaxial-abaxial floral axis in species having bilateral corolla symmetry. In Lycopus americanus , the development and expression pattern of La-CYC2A and La-CYC2B are similar to those of their bilaterally symmetrical relatives, whereas the loss of La-RAD expression correlates with a late switch to radial corolla symmetry. In Mentha longifolia , late radial symmetry may be explained by the loss of Ml-CYC2A , and by altered expression of two Ml-CYC2B and Ml-RAD genes . Finally, expanded expression of Cc-CYC2A and Cc-RAD strongly correlates with the early development of radially symmetrical corollas in Callicarpa cathayana ., Conclusions: Repeated losses of mature corolla bilateral symmetry in Lamiaceae are not uncommon, and may be achieved by distinct mechanisms and various changes to symmetry genes, including the loss of a CYC2 clade gene from the genome, and/or contraction, expansion or alteration of CYC2 clade and RAD -like gene expression., (© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com)

Research rationale: Evolution of fused petals (sympetaly) is considered to be an important innovation that has repeatedly led to increased pollination efficiency, resulting in accelerated rates of plant diversification. Although little is known about the underlying regulation of sympetaly, genetic pathways ancestrally involved in organ boundary establishment (e.g. CUP SHAPED COTYLEDON [CUC] 1-3 genes) are strong candidates. In sympetalous petunia, mutations in the CUC1/2-like orthologue NO APICAL MERISTEM (NAM) inhibit shoot apical meristem formation. Despite this, occasional 'escape shoots' develop flowers with extra petals and fused inter-floral whorl organs. Central methods: To To determine if petunia CUC-like genes regulate additional floral patterning, we used virus-induced silencing (VIGS) following establishment of healthy shoot apices to re-examine the role of NAM in petunia petal development, and uniquely characterise the CUC3 orthologue NH16., Key Results: Confirming previous results, we found that reduced floral NAM/NH16 expression caused increased petal-stamen and stamen-carpel fusion, and often produced extra petals. However, further to previous results, all VIGS plants infected with NAM or NH16 constructs exhibited reduced fusion in the petal whorl compared to control plants., Main Conclusions: Together with previous data, our results demonstrate conservation of petunia CUC-like genes in establishing inter-floral whorl organ boundaries, as well as functional evolution to affect the fusion of petunia petals., (© 2016 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.)

The ability of plants to match their reproductive output with favorable environmental conditions has major consequences both for lifetime fitness and geographic patterns of diversity. In temperate ecosystems, some plant species have evolved the ability to use winter nonfreezing cold (vernalization) as a cue to ready them for spring flowering. However, it is unknown how important the evolution of vernalization responsiveness has been for the colonization and subsequent diversification of taxa within the northern and southern temperate zones. Grasses of subfamily Pooideae, including several important crops, such as wheat (Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), and oats (Avena sativa), predominate in the northern temperate zone, and it is hypothesized that their radiation was facilitated by the early evolution of vernalization responsiveness. Predictions of this early origin hypothesis are that a response to vernalization is widespread within the subfamily and that the genetic basis of this trait is conserved. To test these predictions, we determined and reconstructed vernalization responsiveness across Pooideae and compared expression of wheat vernalization gene orthologs VERNALIZATION1 (VRN1) and VRN3 in phylogenetically representative taxa under cold and control conditions. Our results demonstrate that vernalization responsive Pooideae species are widespread, suggesting that this trait evolved early in the lineage and that at least part of the vernalization gene network is conserved throughout the subfamily. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the evolution of vernalization responsiveness was important for the initial transition of Pooideae out of the tropics and into the temperate zone., (© 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.)

The timing of reproduction in response to variable environmental conditions is critical to plant fitness, and is a major driver of taxon differentiation. In the yellow monkey flower, Mimulus guttatus, geographically distinct North American populations vary in their photoperiod and chilling (vernalization) requirements for flowering, suggesting strong local adaptation to their surroundings. Previous analyses revealed quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying short-day mediated vernalization responsiveness using two annual M. guttatus populations that differed in their vernalization response. To narrow down candidate genes responsible for this variation, and to reveal potential downstream genes, we conducted comparative transcriptomics and quantitative PCR (qPCR) in shoot apices of parental vernalization responsive IM62, and unresponsive LMC24 inbred lines grown under different photoperiods and temperatures. Our study identified several metabolic, hormone signaling, photosynthetic, stress response, and flowering time genes that are differentially expressed between treatments, suggesting a role for their protein products in short-day-mediated vernalization responsiveness. Only a small subset of these genes intersected with candidate genes from the previous QTL study, and, of the main candidates tested with qPCR under nonpermissive conditions, only SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE (SVP) gene expression met predictions for a population-specific short-day-repressor of flowering that is repressed by cold., (Copyright © 2016 Preston et al.)

Flowering of many plant species is coordinated with seasonal environmental cues such as temperature and photoperiod. Vernalization provides competence to flower after prolonged cold exposure, and a vernalization requirement prevents flowering from occurring prior to winter. In winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare), three genes VRN1, VRN2, and FT form a regulatory loop that regulates the initiation of flowering. Prior to cold exposure, VRN2 represses FT. During cold, VRN1 expression increases, resulting in the repression of VRN2, which in turn allows activation of FT during long days to induce flowering. Here, we test whether the circuitry of this regulatory loop is conserved across Pooideae, consistent with their niche transition from the tropics to the temperate zone. Our phylogenetic analyses of VRN2-like genes reveal a duplication event occurred before the diversification of the grasses that gave rise to a CO9 and VRN2/Ghd7 clade and support orthology between wheat/barley VRN2 and rice (Oryza sativa) Ghd7 Our Brachypodium distachyon VRN1 and VRN2 knockdown and overexpression experiments demonstrate functional conservation of grass VRN1 and VRN2 in the promotion and repression of flowering, respectively. However, expression analyses in a range of pooids demonstrate that the cold repression of VRN2 is unique to core Pooideae such as wheat and barley. Furthermore, VRN1 knockdown in B. distachyon demonstrates that the VRN1-mediated suppression of VRN2 is not conserved. Thus, the VRN1-VRN2 feature of the regulatory loop appears to have evolved late in the diversification of temperate grasses., (© 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.)

Main Conclusion: Duplicated petunia clade-VI SPL genes differentially promote the timing of inflorescence and flower development, and leaf initiation rate. The timing of plant reproduction relative to favorable environmental conditions is a critical component of plant fitness, and is often associated with variation in plant architecture and habit. Recent studies have shown that overexpression of the microRNA miR156 in distantly related annual species results in plants with perennial characteristics, including late flowering, weak apical dominance, and abundant leaf production. These phenotypes are largely mediated through the negative regulation of a subset of genes belonging to the SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) family of transcription factors. In order to determine how and to what extent paralogous SPL genes have partitioned their roles in plant growth and development, we functionally characterized petunia clade-VI SPL genes under different environmental conditions. Our results demonstrate that PhSBP1and PhSBP2 differentially promote discrete stages of the reproductive transition, and that PhSBP1, and possibly PhCNR, accelerates leaf initiation rate. In contrast to the closest homologs in annual Arabidopsis thaliana and Mimulus guttatus, PhSBP1 and PhSBP2 transcription is not mediated by the gibberellic acid pathway, but is positively correlated with photoperiod and developmental age. The developmental functions of clade-VI SPL genes have, thus, evolved following both gene duplication and speciation within the core eudicots, likely through differential regulation and incomplete sub-functionalization.

One of the most striking innovations in flower development is the congenital or postgenital union of petals (sympetaly) which has enabled dramatic specialization in flower structure and possibly accelerated speciation rates. Sympetalous flowers exhibit extraordinary variation in development, including the degree and timing of fusion, and fusion with other floral organs. Different axes of corolla tube complexity can be disentangled at the developmental level, with most variation being explained by differences in coordinated growth between interconnected and lobed regions of neighboring petal primordia, and between lower and upper portions of the corolla tube, defined by the stamen insertion boundary. Genetically, inter- and intra-specific variation in the degree of petal fusion is controlled by various inputs from genes that affect organ boundary and lateral growth, signaling between different cell types, and production of the cuticle. It is thus hypothesized that the evolution and diversification of fused petals, at least within the megadiverse Asteridae clade of core eudicots, have occurred through the modification of a conserved genetic pathway previously involved in free petal development., (© 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.)

Flowering time is strictly controlled by a combination of internal and external signals that match seed set with favorable environmental conditions. In the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae), many of the genes underlying development and evolution of flowering have been discovered. However, much remains unknown about how conserved the flowering gene networks are in plants with different growth habits, gene duplication histories, and distributions. Here we functionally characterize three homologs of the flowering gene Suppressor Of Overexpression of Constans 1 (SOC1) in the short-lived perennial Petunia hybrida (petunia, Solanaceae). Similar to A. thaliana soc1 mutants, co-silencing of duplicated petunia SOC1-like genes results in late flowering. This phenotype is most severe when all three SOC1-like genes are silenced. Furthermore, expression levels of the SOC1-like genes Unshaven (UNS) and Floral Binding Protein 21 (FBP21), but not FBP28, are positively correlated with developmental age. In contrast to A. thaliana, petunia SOC1-like gene expression did not increase with longer photoperiods, and FBP28 transcripts were actually more abundant under short days. Despite evidence of functional redundancy, differential spatio-temporal expression data suggest that SOC1-like genes might fine-tune petunia flowering in response to photoperiod and developmental stage. This likely resulted from modification of SOC1-like gene regulatory elements following recent duplication, and is a possible mechanism to ensure flowering under both inductive and non-inductive photoperiods.

Evolutionary transitions in growth habit and flowering time responses to variable environmental signals have occurred multiple times independently across angiosperms and have major impacts on plant fitness. Proteins in the SPL family of transcription factors collectively regulate flowering time genes that have been implicated in interspecific shifts in annuality/perenniality. However, their potential importance in the evolution of angiosperm growth habit has not been extensively investigated. Here we identify orthologs representative of the major SPL gene clades in annual Arabidopsis thaliana and Mimulus guttatus IM767, and perennial A. lyrata and M. guttatus PR, and characterize their expression. Spatio-temporal expression patterns are complex across both diverse tissues of the same taxa and comparable tissues of different taxa, consistent with genic sub- or neo-functionalization. However, our data are consistent with a general role for several SPL genes in the promotion of juvenile to adult phase change and/or flowering time in Mimulus and Arabidopsis. Furthermore, several candidate genes were identified for future study whose differential expression correlates with growth habit and architectural variation in annual versus perennial taxa., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Flowering plants initially diversified during the Mesozoic era at least 140 million years ago in regions of the world where temperate seasonal environments were not encountered. Since then several cooling events resulted in the contraction of warm and wet environments and the establishment of novel temperate zones in both hemispheres. In response, less than half of modern angiosperm families have members that evolved specific adaptations to cold seasonal climates, including cold acclimation, freezing tolerance, endodormancy, and vernalization responsiveness. Despite compelling evidence for multiple independent origins, the level of genetic constraint on the evolution of adaptations to seasonal cold is not well understood. However, the recent increase in molecular genetic studies examining the response of model and crop species to seasonal cold offers new insight into the evolutionary lability of these traits. This insight has major implications for our understanding of complex trait evolution, and the potential role of local adaptation in response to past and future climate change. In this review, we discuss the biochemical, morphological, and developmental basis of adaptations to seasonal cold, and synthesize recent literature on the genetic basis of these traits in a phylogenomic context. We find evidence for multiple genetic links between distinct physiological responses to cold, possibly reinforcing the coordinated expression of these traits. Furthermore, repeated recruitment of the same or similar ancestral pathways suggests that land plants might be somewhat pre-adapted to dealing with temperature stress, perhaps making inducible cold traits relatively easy to evolve.

The SQUAMOSA-PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) family of transcription factors is functionally diverse, controlling a number of fundamental aspects of plant growth and development, including vegetative phase change, flowering time, branching, and leaf initiation rate. In natural plant populations, variation in flowering time and shoot architecture have major consequences for fitness. Likewise, in crop species, variation in branching and developmental rate impact biomass and yield. Thus, studies aimed at dissecting how the various functions are partitioned among different SPL genes in diverse plant lineages are key to providing insight into the genetic basis of local adaptation and have already garnered attention by crop breeders. Here we use phylogenetic reconstruction to reveal nine major SPL gene lineages, each of which is described in terms of function and diversification. To assess evidence for ancestral and derived functions within each SPL gene lineage, we use ancestral character state reconstructions. Our analyses suggest an emerging pattern of sub-functionalization, neo-functionalization, and possible convergent evolution following both ancient and recent gene duplication. Based on these analyses we suggest future avenues of research that may prove fruitful for elucidating the importance of SPL gene evolution in plant growth and development.

Background: Flower bilateral symmetry (zygomorphy) has evolved multiple times independently across angiosperms and is correlated with increased pollinator specialization and speciation rates. Functional and expression analyses in distantly related core eudicots and monocots implicate independent recruitment of class II TCP genes in the evolution of flower bilateral symmetry. Furthermore, available evidence suggests that monocot flower bilateral symmetry might also have evolved through changes in B-class homeotic MADS-box gene function., Methods: In order to test the non-exclusive hypotheses that changes in TCP and B-class gene developmental function underlie flower symmetry evolution in the monocot family Commelinaceae, we compared expression patterns of teosinte branched1 (TB1)-like, DEFICIENS (DEF)-like, and GLOBOSA (GLO)-like genes in morphologically distinct bilaterally symmetrical flowers of Commelina communis and Commelina dianthifolia, and radially symmetrical flowers of Tradescantia pallida., Results: Expression data demonstrate that TB1-like genes are asymmetrically expressed in tepals of bilaterally symmetrical Commelina, but not radially symmetrical Tradescantia, flowers. Furthermore, DEF-like genes are expressed in showy inner tepals, staminodes and stamens of all three species, but not in the distinct outer tepal-like ventral inner tepals of C. communis., Conclusions: Together with other studies, these data suggest parallel recruitment of TB1-like genes in the independent evolution of flower bilateral symmetry at early stages of Commelina flower development, and the later stage homeotic transformation of C. communis inner tepals into outer tepals through the loss of DEF-like gene expression.

• Hardened floral bracts and modifications to the inflorescence axis of grasses have been hypothesized to protect seeds from predation and/or aid seed dispersal, and have evolved multiple times independently within the family. Previous studies have demonstrated that mutations in the maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) gene teosinte glume architecture (tga1) underlie a reduction in hardened structures, yielding free fruits that are easy to harvest. It remains unclear whether the causative mutation(s) occurred in the cis-regulatory or protein-coding regions of tga1, and whether similar mutations in TGA1-like genes can explain variation in the dispersal unit in related grasses. • To address these questions TGA1-like genes were cloned and sequenced from a number of grasses and analyzed phylogenetically in relation to morphology; protein expression was investigated by immunolocalization. • TGA1-like proteins were expressed throughout the spikelet in the early development of all grasses, and throughout the flower of the grass relative Joinvillea. Later in development, expression patterns differed between Tripsacum dactyloides, maize and teosinte (Z. mays ssp. parviglumis). • These results suggest an ancestral role for TGA1-like genes in early spikelet development, but do not support the hypothesis that TGA1-like genes have been repeatedly modified to affect glume and inflorescence axis diversification., (© 2011 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2011 New Phytologist Trust.)

A major focus of evolutionary developmental (evo-devo) studies is to determine the genetic basis of variation in organismal form and function, both of which are fundamental to biological diversification. Pioneering work on metazoan and flowering plant systems has revealed conserved sets of genes that underlie the bauplan of organisms derived from a common ancestor. However, the extent to which variation in the developmental genetic toolkit mirrors variation at the phenotypic level is an active area of research. Here we explore evidence from the angiosperm evo-devo literature supporting the frugal use of genes and genetic pathways in the evolution of developmental patterning. In particular, these examples highlight the importance of genetic pleiotropy in different developmental modules, thus reducing the number of genes required in growth and development, and the reuse of particular genes in the parallel evolution of ecologically important traits.

O-Glycosylation is a ubiquitous eukaryotic post-translational modification, whereas early reports of S-linked glycopeptides have never been verified. Prokaryotes also glycosylate proteins, but there are no confirmed examples of sidechain glycosylation in ribosomal antimicrobial polypeptides collectively known as bacteriocins. Here we show that glycocin F, a bacteriocin secreted by Lactobacillus plantarum KW30, is modified by an N-acetylglucosamine β-O-linked to Ser18, and an N-acetylhexosamine S-linked to C-terminal Cys43. The O-linked N-acetylglucosamine is essential for bacteriostatic activity, and the C-terminus is required for full potency (IC(50) 2 nM). Genomic context analysis identified diverse putative glycopeptide bacteriocins in Firmicutes. One of these, the reputed lantibiotic sublancin, was shown to contain a hexose S-linked to Cys22., (Copyright © 2011 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Angiosperms exhibit staggering diversity in floral form, and evolution of floral morphology is often correlated with changes in pollination syndrome. The showy, bilaterally symmetrical flowers of the model species Antirrhinum majus (Plantaginaceae) are highly specialized for bee pollination. In A. majus, Cycloidea (CYC), Dichotoma (DICH), Radialis (RAD), and Divaricata (DIV) specify the development of floral bilateral symmetry. However, it is unclear to what extent evolution of these genes has resulted in flower morphological divergence among closely related members of Plantaginaceae differing in pollination syndrome. We compared floral symmetry genes from insect-pollinated Digitalis purpurea, which has bilaterally symmetrical flowers, with those from closely related Aragoa abietina and wind-pollinated Plantago major, both of which have radially symmetrical flowers. We demonstrate that Plantago, but not Aragoa, species have lost a dorsally expressed CYC-like gene and downstream targets RAD and DIV. Furthermore, the single P. major CYC-like gene is expressed across all regions of the flower, similar to expression of its ortholog in closely related Veronica serpyllifolia. We propose that changes in the expression of duplicated CYC-like genes led to the evolution of radial flower symmetry in Aragoa/Plantago, and that further disintegration of the symmetry gene pathway resulted in the wind-pollination syndrome of Plantago. This model underscores the potential importance of gene loss in the evolution of ecologically important traits.

Aims: This study describes the background, development and delivery of an innovative approach to prepare elected state association leaders for their new leadership roles in their respective state organizations., Background: State-based professional associations face unprecedented threats to scope of practice in the current volatile healthcare environment. In 2009 the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) began offering a Leadership Development 'Boot Camp' for all nurse anesthetist state association presidents-elect designed with the intent of providing the participants with information, resources and tools they need in their new role., Methods: An organizational assessment examined the philosophy of and need for leadership development across the entire organizational structure., Results: Recommendations from the assessment included the need for intensive leadership development at the state level. A 3-day intensive workshop was designed and implemented. Adult learning theory was used for its development., Conclusions: The success of this programme has lead to its implementation as part of leadership development of the AANA., Implications for Nursing Management: Nurse managers and elected volunteer leaders in state-based professional associations face similar challenges requiring sound leadership ability. Principles applied to the development of the AANA programme can be applied to leadership development for new nurse managers., (© 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

The degree to which developmental genetic pathways are conserved across distantly related organisms is a major question in biology. In Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh., inflorescence development is initiated in response to a combination of external and internal floral inductive signals that are perceived across the whole plant, but are integrated within the shoot apical meristem. Recently, it was demonstrated that SQUAMOSA-PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN (SBP)-box proteins regulate A. thaliana flowering time by mediating signals from the autonomous and photoperiod pathways, and by directly activating key genes involved in inflorescence and floral meristem identity, including FRUITFULL (FUL), APETALA1 (AP1) and LEAFY (LFY). In the distantly related core eudicot species Antirrhinum majus L., paralogous SBP-box proteins SBP1 and SBP2 have likewise been implicated in regulating the AP1 ortholog SQUAMOSA (SQUA). To test the hypothesis that SBP-box genes are also involved in the floral induction of A. majus, we used a reverse genetic approach to silence SBP1. SBP1-silenced lines are late to nonflowering, and show reduced apical dominance. Furthermore, expression and sequence analyses suggest that the SBP1-mediated transition to flowering occurs through the positive regulation of FUL/LFY homologs. Together, these data outline the utility of virus-induced gene silencing in A. majus, and provide new insight into the conservation of flowering time genetic pathways across core eudicots.

Basic questions regarding the origin and evolution of grass (Poaceae) inflorescence morphology remain unresolved, including the developmental genetic basis for evolution of the highly derived outer spikelet organs. To evaluate homologies between the outer sterile organs of grass spikelets and inflorescence structures of nongrass monocot flowers, we describe expression patterns of APETALA1/FRUITFULL-like (AP1/FUL) and LEAFY HULL STERILE-like (LHS1) MADS-box genes in an early-diverging grass (Streptochaeta angustifolia) and a nongrass outgroup (Joinvillea ascendens). AP1/FUL-like genes are expressed only in floral organs of J. ascendens, supporting the hypothesis that they mark the floral boundary in nongrass monocots, and JaLHS1/OsMADS5 is expressed in the inner and outer tepals, stamen filaments and pistil. In S. angustifolia, SaFUL2 is expressed in all 11 (or 12) bracts of the primary inflorescence branch, but not in the suppressed floral bract below the abscission zone. In contrast, SaLHS1 is only expressed in bracts 6-11 (or 12). Together, these data are consistent with the hypotheses that (1) bracts 1-5 of S. angustifolia primary inflorescence branches and glumes of grass spikelets are homologous and that (2) the outer tepals of immediate grass relatives, bracts 6-8 of S. angustifolia, and the lemma/palea are homologous, although other explanations are possible.

The relative importance of convergence and parallelism in the independent evolution of similar traits remains an important question in evolutionary biology. Floral zygomorphy has evolved multiple times independently in different plant lineages through alterations in size, shape and/or number of spatially defined organs. In Antirrhinum majus (snapdragon) floral zygomorphy is controlled by CYCLOIDEA and DICHOTOMA, two recently duplicated TCP transcription factors that determine dorsal identity through their interaction with MYB and cell-cycle genes. Early on it was speculated that independent evolutionary transitions from floral actinomorphy to zygomorphy would probably result from unique developmental genetic mechanisms. Here, we review recent evidence supporting the parallel recruitment of CYCLOIDEA homologs in independent evolutionary transitions to zygomorphy in distantly related core eudicot lineages.

Multiple evolutionary shifts in floral symmetry and stamen number have occurred in the snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) family Veronicaceae. In Mohavea, Veronica and Gratiola there have been independent evolutionary reductions in stamen number and modifications to corolla shape. It is hypothesized that changes in the regulation of homologs of snapdragon dorsal flower identity genes CYCLOIDEA (CYC) and RADIALIS (RAD) underlie these floral transitions. CYC-like and RAD-like genes from Veronica montana and Gratiola officinalis were cloned and sequenced, compared with homologs from other Veronicaceae species using phylogenetic analysis, and their expression was investigated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and in situ hybridization. VmCYC1, GoCYC1, GoCYC2 and RAD-like genes are expressed exclusively in the dorsal region of floral meristems and developing flowers. Their expression patterns do not correlate with patterns of stamen arrest. VmCYC2 and GoCYC3 are expressed in both vegetative and floral tissues, with VmCYC2 being most abundant in all regions of the floral meristem and all petals. These results support conservation of the floral symmetry gene network for Veronicaceae RAD-like and some CYC-like paralogs, suggest regulatory evolution of other CYC-like genes following gene duplication and implicate different genetic mechanisms underlying dorsal versus ventral stamen abortion within Veronica and Gratiola.

Members of the grass subfamily Pooideae are characterized by their adaptation to cool temperate climates. Vernalization is the process whereby flowering is accelerated in response to a prolonged period of cold. Winter cereals are tolerant of low temperatures and flower earlier with vernalization, whereas spring cultivars are intolerant of low temperatures and flower later with vernalization. In the pooid grasses wheat (Triticum monococcum, Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare), vernalization responsiveness is determined by allelic variation at the VERNALIZATION1 (VRN1) and/or VRN2 loci. To determine whether VRN1, and its paralog FRUITFULL2 (FUL2), are involved in vernalization requirement across Pooideae, we determined expression profiles for multiple cultivars of oat (Avena sativa) and wheat with and without cold treatment. Our results demonstrate significant up-regulation of VRN1 expression in leaves of winter oat and wheat in response to vernalization; no treatment effect was found for spring or facultative growth habit oat and wheat. Similar cold-dependent patterns of leaf expression were found for FUL2 in winter oat, but not winter wheat, suggesting a redundant qualitative role for these genes in the quantitative induction of flowering competency of oat. These and other data support the hypothesis that VRN1 is a common regulator of vernalization responsiveness within the crown pooids. Finally, we found that up-regulation of VRN1 in vegetative meristems of oat was significantly later than in leaves. This suggests distinct and conserved roles for temperate cereal grass VRN1/FUL-like genes, first, in systemic signaling to induce flowering competency, and second, in meristems to activate genes involved in the floral transition.