Plant vascular development is a complex process culminating in the generation of xylem and phloem, the plant transporting conduits. Xylem and phloem arise from specialized stem cells collectively termed (pro)cambium. Once developed, xylem transports mainly water and mineral nutrients and phloem transports photoassimilates and signaling molecules. In the past few years, major advances have been made to characterize the molecular, genetic and physiological aspects that govern vascular development. However, less is known about how the environment re-shapes the process, which molecular mechanisms link environmental inputs with developmental outputs, which gene regulatory networks facilitate the genetic adaptation of vascular development to environmental niches, or how the first vascular cells appeared as an evolutionary innovation. In this review, we (1) summarize the current knowledge of the mechanisms involved in vascular development, focusing on the model species Arabidopsis thaliana, (2) describe the anatomical effect of specific environmental factors on the process, (3) speculate about the main entry points through which the molecular mechanisms controlling of the process might be altered by specific environmental factors, and (4) discuss future research which could identify the genetic factors underlying phenotypic plasticity of vascular development.

植物维管发育是一个复杂的过程，最终形成木质部和韧皮部（植物的运输管道）。木质部和韧皮部源自统称为（原）形成层的特殊干细胞。一旦发育，木质部主要运输水和矿物质营养物，韧皮部运输光同化物和信号分子。在过去的几年中，在表征控制血管发育的分子、遗传和生理方面已经取得了重大进展。然而，人们对环境如何重塑这一过程、哪些分子机制将环境输入与发育输出联系起来、哪些基因调控网络促进血管发育对环境生态位的遗传适应，或者第一个血管细胞如何作为进化的出现，知之甚少。创新。在这篇综述中，我们（1）总结了目前对血管发育机制的了解，重点关注模式物种拟南芥，（2）描述了特定环境因素对该过程的解剖学影响，（3）推测了主要的血管发育机制。控制该过程的分子机制可能会被特定环境因素改变的切入点，以及（4）讨论未来的研究，这些研究可以识别血管发育表型可塑性背后的遗传因素。