Fruit is seed-bearing structures specific to angiosperm that form from the gynoecium after flowering. Fruit size is an important fitness character for plant evolution and an agronomical trait for crop domestication/improvement. Despite the functional and economic importance of fruit size, the underlying genes and mechanisms are poorly understood, especially for dry fruit types. Improving our understanding of the genomic basis for fruit size opens the potential to apply gene-editing technology such as CRISPR/Cas to modulate fruit size in a range of species. This review examines the genes involved in the regulation of fruit size and identifies their genetic/signalling pathways, including the phytohormones, transcription and elongation factors, ubiquitin-proteasome and microRNA pathways, G-protein and receptor kinases signalling, arabinogalactan and RNA-binding proteins. Interestingly, different plant taxa have conserved functions for various fruit size regulators, suggesting that common genome edits across species may have similar outcomes. Many fruit size regulators identified to date are pleiotropic and affect other organs such as seeds, flowers and leaves, indicating a coordinated regulation. The relationships between fruit size and fruit number/seed number per fruit/seed size, as well as future research questions, are also discussed.

中文翻译：

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干果大小的遗传和信号通路：基于基因组编辑的作物改良的目标。

果实是被子植物特有的含种子结构，由开花后的雌蕊形成。果实大小是植物进化的重要适应性特征，也是作物驯化/改良的农艺性状。尽管果实大小具有功能和经济重要性，但其潜在基因和机制却知之甚少，特别是对于干果类型。提高我们对果实大小基因组基础的理解，开启了应用 CRISPR/Cas 等基因编辑技术来调节一系列物种果实大小的潜力。这篇综述检查了参与调节果实大小的基因，并确定了它们的遗传/信号传导途径，包括植物激素、转录和延伸因子、泛素蛋白酶体和微小RNA途径、G蛋白和受体激酶信号传导、阿拉伯半乳聚糖和RNA结合蛋白。有趣的是，不同的植物分类群对不同的果实大小调节因子具有保守的功能，这表明跨物种的共同基因组编辑可能会产生相似的结果。迄今为止发现的许多果实大小调节剂都是多效性的，并且影响其他器官，例如种子、花和叶，表明协调调节。还讨论了果实大小和每个果实/种子大小的果实数量/种子数量之间的关系，以及未来的研究问题。