Gene network controls how many flowers and fruits plants will make in critical growth window

There is staggering diversity in the number of flowers produced by each of the 2,800 or so species of plants in the nightshade family, which includes economically important crops such as tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes. Why the dramatic differences between such closely related species? While the development of individual flowers is well understood, it has been unclear what mechanisms control how many branches a plant will produce and how many flowers will grow from each branch.