Higher plants display a variety of architectures that are defined by the degree of branching, internodal elongation, and shoot determinancy. Studies on the model plants of Arabidopsis thaliana and tomato and on crop plants such as rice and maize have greatly strengthened our understanding on the molecular genetic bases of plant architecture, one of the hottest areas in plant developmental biology. The identification of mutants that are defective in plant architecture and characterization of the corresponding and related genes will eventually enable us to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying plant architecture. The achievements made so far in studying plant architecture have already allowed us to pave a way for optimizing the plant architecture of crops by molecular design and improving grain productivity.

中文翻译：

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植物结构的分子基础

高等植物显示出由分枝程度、节间伸长和枝条决定性定义的各种结构。对拟南芥和番茄模式植物以及水稻和玉米等农作物的研究大大加强了我们对植物结构分子遗传基础的理解，植物结构是植物发育生物学中最热门的领域之一。鉴定植物结构有缺陷的突变体以及相应和相关基因的表征将最终使我们能够阐明植物结构的分子机制。迄今为止在植物构型研究方面取得的成就，已经为我们通过分子设计优化作物的构型和提高粮食生产力铺平了道路。