Duplicate MADS genes with split roles

Floral morphogenesis is the result of the interaction of an elaborate network of factors, which is relatively well conserved amongst species. In this issue of <i>Journal of Experimental Botany</i> (pages 1805–1817), research by Roque et al. explains in detail the function of a duplicated pair of genes involved in the formation of petals and stamens in the legume model <i>Medicago truncatula.</i>