BACKGROUND Model organisms are at the core of life science research. Notable examples include the mouse as a model for humans, baker's yeast for eukaryotic unicellular life and simple genetics, or the enterobacteria phage λ in virology. Plant research was an exception to this rule, with researchers relying on a variety of non-model plants until the eventual adoption of Arabidopsis thaliana as primary plant model in the 1980s. This proved to be an unprecedented success, and several secondary plant models have since been established. Currently, we are experiencing another wave of expansion in the set of plant models. SCOPE Since the 2000s, new model plants have been established to study numerous aspects of plant biology, such as the evolution of land plants, grasses, invasive and parasitic plant life, adaptation to environmental challenges, and the development of morphological diversity. Concurrent with the establishment of new plant models, the advent of the 'omics' era in biology has led to a resurgence of the more complex non-model plants. With this review, we would like to introduce some of the new and fascinating plant models, outline why they are interesting subjects to study, the questions they will help to answer, and the molecular tools that have been established and are available to researchers. CONCLUSIONS Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying all aspects of plant biology can only be achieved with the adoption of a comprehensive set of models, each of which allows the assessment of at least one aspect of plant life. The model plants described here represent a step forward towards our goal to explore and comprehend the diversity of plant form and function. Still, several questions remain unanswered, but the constant development of novel technologies in molecular biology and bioinformatics is already paving the way for the next generation of plant models.

中文翻译：

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植物科学的下一个顶级模型

背景模式生物是生命科学研究的核心。值得注意的例子包括作为人类模型的小鼠、用于真核单细胞生命和简单遗传学的面包酵母，或病毒学中的肠杆菌噬菌体λ。植物研究是这一规则的一个例外，研究人员依赖于各种非模式植物，直到 1980 年代最终采用拟南芥作为主要植物模型。这被证明是空前的成功，并且已经建立了几个二级工厂模型。目前，我们正在经历另一波工厂模型的扩展。范围自 2000 年代以来，已经建立了新的模式植物来研究植物生物学的许多方面，例如陆地植物、草类、入侵和寄生植物生命的进化、对环境挑战的适应、和形态多样性的发展。在建立新的植物模型的同时，生物学“组学”时代的到来导致更复杂的非模型植物的复兴。通过这篇综述，我们想介绍一些新的、引人入胜的植物模型，概述为什么它们是值得研究的有趣主题，它们将有助于回答的问题，以及已经建立并可供研究人员使用的分子工具。结论 了解植物生物学所有方面的分子机制只能通过采用一套全面的模型来实现，每个模型都允许评估植物生命的至少一个方面。这里描述的模型植物代表着我们朝着探索和理解植物形态和功能多样性的目标迈进了一步。尽管如此，仍有几个问题没有得到解答，但分子生物学和生物信息学新技术的不断发展已经为下一代植物模型铺平了道路。