title: The ABC model of flower development: then and now.
abstract: In 1991, we published a paper in Development that proposed the ABC model of flower development, an early contribution to the genetic analysis of development in plants. In this, we used a series of homeotic mutants, and double and triple mutants, to establish a predictive model of organ specification in developing flowers. This model has served as the basis for much subsequent work, especially towards understanding seed plant evolution. Here, we discuss several aspects of this story, that could be a much longer one. One surprising conclusion is that materials and methods that might have led to similar work, and to the same model, were available 100 years before our experiments, belying the belief that progress in biology necessarily comes from improvements in methods, rather than in concepts.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Vic. 3800,  Australia.
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bowman
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Smyth
authors.forename: Elliot M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Meyerowitz
mesh_terms: D026342:AGAMOUS Protein, Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D026342:AGAMOUS Protein, Arabidopsis; C101342:APETALA 3 protein, Arabidopsis; C499534:APETALA2 protein, Arabidopsis; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C090225:PISTILLATA protein, Arabidopsis