Abstract: Phytomer is a basic component unit of cereal crops morphology. It is an extension of modular theory in recognition of morphological structure of gramineous crops, and also one of the research scales of the structure and function of gramineous crops. Based on the modularization property of node unit structure and function, this paper summarized the concept of crop node unit of gramineous crops and its application in studying crop structure and function. Firstly, the development process of nodal unit concept was introduced from the concept of nodal unit. Then, from the perspective of structure and function, the research progress of gramine-based crops was summarized. The study of structure was mainly illustrated from 3 aspects: topological structure, geometric structure and morphological construction. Functional studies were mainly analyzed from the aspects of photosynthetic product distribution, growth period prediction and development process. Finally, the paper prospected the future research on structure and function of gramineous crops based on nodal units in the aspects of standardization, geometric structure reconstruction, phenotypic data extraction and microstructure.

Key words: phytomer, metamer, cereal crops, 3D visualization, morphogical establishment

摘要： 节单位（phytomer）是禾本科作物形态结构基本组成单元，是模块化理论在禾本科作物形态结构认知上的延伸，也是禾本科作物结构与功能的研究尺度之一。基于节单位结构与功能的模块化属性，综述了禾本科作物节单位的概念及其在作物结构与功能研究中的应用。首先从节单位的概念出发，介绍了节单位概念发展过程；然后分别从结构和功能的角度对基于节单位的禾本科作物研究进展进行了总结，结构研究主要从拓扑结构、几何结构、形态建成三方面阐述，功能研究主要从光合产物分配、生育期预测和发育过程等方面进行分析；最后从节单位定义的规范性、几何结构重建、表型数据提取及显微结构等方面对基于节单位的禾本科作物结构功能研究进行了展望。

关键词: 节单位, 叶元, 禾本科作物, 三维可视化, 形态建成