Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an important vegetable crop species with great economic value. Shoot architecture determines the visual appearance of plants and has a strong impact on crop management and yield. Unlike most model plant species, cucumber undergoes vegetative growth and reproductive growth simultaneously, in which leaves are produced from the shoot apical meristem and flowers are generated from leaf axils, during the majority of its life, a feature representative of the Cucurbitaceae family. Despite substantial advances achieved in understanding the regulation of plant form in Arabidopsis thaliana, rice, and maize, our understanding of the mechanisms controlling shoot architecture in Cucurbitaceae crop species is still limited. In this review, we focus on recent progress on elucidating the genetic regulatory pathways underlying the determinant/indeterminant growth habit, leaf shape, branch outgrowth, tendril identity, and vine length determination in cucumber. We also discuss the potential of applying biotechnology tools and resources for the generation of ideal plant types with desired architectural features to improve cucumber productivity and cultivation efficiency.

中文翻译：

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黄瓜枝条结构的遗传调控

黄瓜 （黄瓜L.)是一种具有重要经济价值的重要蔬菜作物品种。枝条结构决定了植物的视觉外观，对作物管理和产量有很大影响。与大多数模式植物不同，黄瓜同时经历营养生长和生殖生长，其中在其生命的大部分时间里，叶片由茎尖分生组织产生，花朵由叶腋产生，这是葫芦科的代表特征。尽管在理解植物形态调控方面取得了重大进展拟南芥，水稻和玉米，我们对葫芦科作物品种控制芽结构的机制的理解仍然有限。在这篇综述中，我们重点介绍了黄瓜决定因素/非决定因素生长习性、叶片形状、分枝生长、卷须特性和藤蔓长度确定背后的遗传调控途径的最新进展。我们还讨论了应用生物技术工具和资源来产生具有所需建筑特征的理想植物类型以提高黄瓜生产力和栽培效率的潜力。