Rate of meristem initiation driven by the MADS–WUS axis contributes to floral survival and inflorescence evolution in grasses

Crop domestication has repeatedly shaped inflorescence architecture to improve floral production, but mechanisms coordinating the rate of floral initiation, maturation and survival remain unclear. Combining morphometry, modelling and molecular genetic analyses, we show that floral production in the indeterminate barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) inflorescence follows an “initiate fast—die young” strategy orchestrated by a main MADS-box gene, SPIKELET INITIATION AND FERTILITY ( SIF ). SIF accomplishes this duality by coordinately terminating the inflorescence meristem via WUSCHEL and activating the floral meristem via APETALA1 ( Vrn-H1 ). Hereby, the ancestral SIF “slow” allele promotes a timely commitment to floral maturation, whereas the derived “fast” allele permits more floral initiations. Postdomestication selection of SIF alleles thus enables diversified reproductive strategies in barley populations to maintain yield traits in the field. Finally, we show that a lineage-specific SIF duplication contributed to meristem fate transition and inflorescence evolution during Triticeae cold adaptation. Our results establish developmental rate as a key driver of architectural innovation and reproductive success.