Abstract:

Plants leaf is an important vegetative organ whose formation and development involves hormonal signals and complicated genetic networks regulating among different transcription factors. The occurrence of leaf margin serration is a result of long-term plant adaption to diverse environment, which is of great significance for plants to respond to high temperature, drought and other stresses, and photoperiod. In order to better understand the developmental process of leaf margin serration in plants, this paper classified and summarized the important regulatory factors and their regulatory mechanisms in the formation of leaf edge serration in plants. Development of leaf margin serration is regulated by plants hormone, such as auxin, cytokinin, and gibberellin, and transcription factors, such as NAM/CUC, TCP and SPL, KNOX gene family, and other regulatory factors. In addition, development of leaf margin serration also exhibits different regulatory patterns among plants with single or compound leaves. There are still many unknown regulatory factors of the development process of leaf margin serration in plants, therefore, it is important to explore and identify more regulatory factors in the future, and understand their underlying mechanisms, thus providing a theoretical basis for crop trait improvement through modification of leaf shape.

Key words: leaf margin serration, auxin, NAM/CUC, TCP, KNOX