A recent paper published  in Nature Plants by the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad sheds light on the molecular innovations in flowering plants that could solve Charles Darwin’s “abominable mystery” question.

• The study described the role of a newfound gene called SHUKR (meaning ‘sperm’ in many Indian languages) and its effect on the plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

Key Highlights of the Study

• Subject: To Solve  Darwin’s Mystery in flowering plants what he termed  as  “abominable mystery”.
• Findings: 
• • The study  shows that the sporophyte controls gametophyte development in flowering plants and not vice versa as was previously assumed.
  • Pollen Control: The SHUKR gene was seen regulating the F-box genes in pollen, affecting the development of pollen. It was found that when a functional SHUKR gene is absent, the flower fails to produce viable pollen.
    • Both the SHUKR gene and F-box genes under SHUKR’s control are evolving rapidly.
  • Faster Adaptation: SHUKR and the F-box genes, evolving fast, allowed the eudicot plants to explore, adapt to, and successfully reproduce in various environmental conditions through variations in pollen.
  • Environmental Resilience: The Gene adaptation led to other forms of adaptation in land plants like developing a robust root system, a vasculature allowing water and minerals to move from the roots to different cells of the plant body, and the evolution of many forms of flower-pollinator strategies.

Significance of the Study

• Solving Darwin’s Mystery: Charles Darwin once described the rapid rise and spread of flowering plants about 130 million years ago as an “abominable mystery”, because evolution is usually slow and gradual.
• The research can help identify new mechanisms to ensure plants can survive increasingly harsh environments. 
• Study Plant Science: SHUKR opens a new path to plant fitness as there is ongoing research exploring genes responsible for plants’ physical sturdiness, immunity, and/or tolerance to salinity and drought.
• Plant Engineering:  It may be possible to naturally improve environmental resilience in plants using preconditioned pollen as  the sporophyte of an eudicot may create pollen fit for those conditions by modulating the protein composition in the pollen when exposed to a specific environmental condition.

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