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Turner HA, Humpage M, Kerp H, Hetherington AJ. Leaves and sporangia developed in rare non-Fibonacci spirals in early leafy plants. Science 2023; 380:1188-1192. [PMID: 37319203 DOI: 10.1126/science.adg4014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Lateral plant organs, including leaves and reproductive structures, are arranged on stems in distinct patterns termed phyllotaxis. Most extant plants exhibit phyllotactic patterns that are mathematically described by the Fibonacci series. However, it remains unclear what lateral organ arrangements were present in early leafy plants. To investigate this, we quantified phyllotaxis in fossils of the Early Devonian lycopod Asteroxylon mackiei. We report diverse phyllotaxis in leaves, including whorls and spirals. Spirals were all n:(n+1) non-Fibonacci types. We also show that leaves and reproductive structures occurred in the same phyllotactic series, indicating developmental similarities between the organs. Our findings shed light on the long-standing debate about leaf origins and demonstrate the antiquity of non-Fibonacci spirals in plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly-Anne Turner
- Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Max Born Crescent, Edinburgh EH9 3BF, UK
| | - Matthew Humpage
- Northern Rogue Studios, 18 Hunsdon Road, Iffley, Oxford OX4 4JE, UK
| | - Hans Kerp
- Research Group for Palaeobotany, Institute for Geology and Palaeontology, University Münster, Heisenbergstrasse 2, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Alexander J Hetherington
- Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Max Born Crescent, Edinburgh EH9 3BF, UK
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2
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Zhang YJ, Hochberg U, Rockwell FE, Ponomarenko A, Chen YJ, Manandhar A, Graham AC, Holbrook NM. Xylem conduit deformation across vascular plants: an evolutionary spandrel or protective valve? THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2023; 237:1242-1255. [PMID: 36307967 DOI: 10.1111/nph.18584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The hydraulic system of vascular plants and its integrity is essential for plant survival. To transport water under tension, the walls of xylem conduits must approximate rigid pipes. Against this expectation, conduit deformation has been reported in the leaves of a few species and hypothesized to function as a 'circuit breaker' against embolism. Experimental evidence is lacking, and its generality is unknown. We demonstrated the role of conduit deformation in protecting the upstream xylem from embolism through experiments on three species and surveyed a diverse selection of vascular plants for conduit deformation in leaves. Conduit deformation in minor veins occurred before embolism during slow dehydration. When leaves were exposed to transient increases in transpiration, conduit deformation was accompanied by large water potential differences from leaf to stem and minimal embolism in the upstream xylem. In the three species tested, collapsible vein endings provided clear protection of upstream xylem from embolism during transient increases in transpiration. We found conduit deformation in diverse vascular plants, including 11 eudicots, ginkgo, a cycad, a fern, a bamboo, and a grass species, but not in two bamboo and a palm species, demonstrating that the potential for 'circuit breaker' functionality may be widespread across vascular plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong-Jiang Zhang
- School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA
| | - Uri Hochberg
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- ARO Volcani Center, Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Rishon Lezion, 7505101, Israel
| | - Fulton E Rockwell
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Alexandre Ponomarenko
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Ya-Jun Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China
| | - Anju Manandhar
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Adam C Graham
- Center for Nanoscale Systems, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - N Michele Holbrook
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
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3
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Kapoor B, Kumar P, Verma V, Irfan M, Sharma R, Bhargava B. How plants conquered land: evolution of terrestrial adaptation. J Evol Biol 2023; 36:5-14. [PMID: 36083189 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.14062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Revised: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
The transition of plants from water to land is considered one of the most significant events in the evolution of life on Earth. The colonization of land by plants, accompanied by their morphological, physiological and developmental changes, resulted in plant biodiversity. Besides significantly influencing oxygen levels in the air and on land, plants manufacture organic matter from CO2 and water with the help of sunlight, paving the way for the diversification of nonplant lineages ranging from microscopic organisms to animals. Land plants regulate the climate by adjusting total biomass and energy flow. At the genetic level, these innovations are achieved through the rearrangement of pre-existing genetic information. Advances in genome sequencing technology are revamping our understanding of plant evolution. This study highlights the morphological and genomic innovations that allow plants to integrate life on Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhuvnesh Kapoor
- Department of Biotechnology, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India
| | - Pankaj Kumar
- Department of Biotechnology, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India
| | - Vipasha Verma
- Agrotechnology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India
| | - Mohammad Irfan
- Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Rajnish Sharma
- Department of Biotechnology, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India
| | - Bhavya Bhargava
- Agrotechnology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India
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4
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Sattler R, Rutishauser R. Fundamentals of Plant Morphology and Plant Evo-Devo (Evolutionary Developmental Morphology). PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 12:118. [PMID: 36616247 PMCID: PMC9823526 DOI: 10.3390/plants12010118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2022] [Revised: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Morphological concepts are used in plant evo-devo (evolutionary developmental biology) and other disciplines of plant biology, and therefore plant morphology is relevant to all of these disciplines. Many plant biologists still rely on classical morphology, according to which there are only three mutually exclusive organ categories in vascular plants such as flowering plants: root, stem (caulome), and leaf (phyllome). Continuum morphology recognizes a continuum between these organ categories. Instead of Aristotelian identity and either/or logic, it is based on fuzzy logic, according to which membership in a category is a matter of degree. Hence, an organ in flowering plants may be a root, stem, or leaf to some degree. Homology then also becomes a matter of degree. Process morphology supersedes structure/process dualism. Hence, structures do not have processes, they are processes, which means they are process combinations. These process combinations may change during ontogeny and phylogeny. Although classical morphology on the one hand and continuum and process morphology on the other use different kinds of logic, they can be considered complementary and thus together they present a more inclusive picture of the diversity of plant form than any one of the three alone. However, continuum and process morphology are more comprehensive than classical morphology. Insights gained from continuum and process morphology can inspire research in plant morphology and plant evo-devo, especially MorphoEvoDevo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rolf Sattler
- Biology Department, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3G 0B1, Canada
| | - Rolf Rutishauser
- Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, CH-8008 Zurich, Switzerland
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5
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Woudenberg S, Renema J, Tomescu AMF, De Rybel B, Weijers D. Deep origin and gradual evolution of transporting tissues: Perspectives from across the land plants. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2022; 190:85-99. [PMID: 35904762 PMCID: PMC9434249 DOI: 10.1093/plphys/kiac304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
The evolution of transporting tissues was an important innovation in terrestrial plants that allowed them to adapt to almost all nonaquatic environments. These tissues consist of water-conducting cells and food-conducting cells and bridge plant-soil and plant-air interfaces over long distances. The largest group of land plants, representing about 95% of all known plant species, is associated with morphologically complex transporting tissue in plants with a range of additional traits. Therefore, this entire clade was named tracheophytes, or vascular plants. However, some nonvascular plants possess conductive tissues that closely resemble vascular tissue in their organization, structure, and function. Recent molecular studies also point to a highly conserved toolbox of molecular regulators for transporting tissues. Here, we reflect on the distinguishing features of conductive and vascular tissues and their evolutionary history. Rather than sudden emergence of complex, vascular tissues, plant transporting tissues likely evolved gradually, building on pre-existing developmental mechanisms and genetic components. Improved knowledge of the intimate structure and developmental regulation of transporting tissues across the entire taxonomic breadth of extant plant lineages, combined with more comprehensive documentation of the fossil record of transporting tissues, is required for a full understanding of the evolutionary trajectory of transporting tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Alexandru M F Tomescu
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State Polytechnic University–Humboldt, Arcata, California 95521, USA
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Abstract
Plants and animals are both important for studies in evolutionary developmental biology (EvoDevo). Plant morphology as a valuable discipline of EvoDevo is set for a paradigm shift. Process thinking and the continuum approach in plant morphology allow us to perceive and interpret growing plants as combinations of developmental processes rather than as assemblages of structural units (“organs”) such as roots, stems, leaves, and flowers. These dynamic philosophical perspectives were already favored by botanists and philosophers such as Agnes Arber (1879–1960) and Rolf Sattler (*1936). The acceptance of growing plants as dynamic continua inspires EvoDevo scientists such as developmental geneticists and evolutionary biologists to move towards a more holistic understanding of plants in time and space. This review will appeal to many young scientists in the plant development research fields. It covers a wide range of relevant publications from the past to present.
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Delaux PM, Hetherington AJ, Coudert Y, Delwiche C, Dunand C, Gould S, Kenrick P, Li FW, Philippe H, Rensing SA, Rich M, Strullu-Derrien C, de Vries J. Reconstructing trait evolution in plant evo-devo studies. Curr Biol 2020; 29:R1110-R1118. [PMID: 31689391 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.09.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Our planet is teeming with an astounding diversity of plants. In a mere single group of closely related species, tremendous diversity can be observed in their form and function - the colour of petals in flowering plants, the shape of the fronds in ferns, and the branching pattern of the gametophyte in mosses. Diversity can also be found in subtler traits, such as the resistance to pathogens or the ability to recruit symbiotic microbes from the environment. Plant traits can also be highly conserved - at the cellular and metabolic levels, entire biosynthetic pathways are present in all plant groups, and morphological characteristics such as vascular tissues have been conserved for hundreds of millions of years. The research community that seeks to understand these traits - both the diverse and the conserved - by taking an evolutionary point-of-view on plant biology is growing. Here, we summarize a subset of the different aspects of plant evolutionary biology, provide a guide for structuring comparative biology approaches and discuss the pitfalls that (plant) researchers should avoid when embarking on such studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre-Marc Delaux
- Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Castanet-Tolosan, France.
| | | | - Yoan Coudert
- Laboratoire Reproduction et Développement des Plantes, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS, INRA, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, INRIA, 46 Allée d'Italie, Lyon, 69007, France
| | | | - Christophe Dunand
- Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Sven Gould
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Paul Kenrick
- Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Fay-Wei Li
- Boyce Thompson Institute, Ithaca, NY, USA; Plant Biology Section, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Hervé Philippe
- Centre de Théorisation et de Modélisation de la Biodiversité, Station d'Écologie Théorique et Expérimentale, UMR CNRS 5321, Moulis, France; Département de Biochimie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Stefan A Rensing
- Plant Cell Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany; BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, University Freiburg, Germany; SYNMIKRO Research Center, University of Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Mélanie Rich
- Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Christine Strullu-Derrien
- Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK; Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, UMR 7205, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Jan de Vries
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada; Institute of Microbiology, Technische Universitaet Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany; Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, Bioinformatics, University of Göttingen, Goldschmidtstr. 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
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8
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Vasco A, Ambrose BA. Simple and Divided Leaves in Ferns: Exploring the Genetic Basis for Leaf Morphology Differences in the Genus Elaphoglossum (Dryopteridaceae). Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:E5180. [PMID: 32707812 PMCID: PMC7432805 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21155180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2020] [Revised: 07/01/2020] [Accepted: 07/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the implications leaves have for life, their origin and development remain debated. Analyses across ferns and seed plants are fundamental to address the conservation or independent origins of megaphyllous leaf developmental mechanisms. Class I KNOX expression studies have been used to understand leaf development and, in ferns, have only been conducted in species with divided leaves. We performed expression analyses of the Class I KNOX and Histone H4 genes throughout the development of leaf primordia in two simple-leaved and one divided-leaved fern taxa. We found Class I KNOX are expressed (1) throughout young and early developing leaves of simple and divided-leaved ferns, (2) later into leaf development of divided-leaved species compared to simple-leaved species, and (3) at the leaf primordium apex and margins. H4 expression is similar in young leaf primordia of simple and divided leaves. Persistent Class I KNOX expression at the margins of divided leaf primordia compared with simple leaf primordia indicates that temporal and spatial patterns of Class I KNOX expression correlate with different fern leaf morphologies. However, our results also indicate that Class I KNOX expression alone is not sufficient to promote divided leaf development in ferns. Class I KNOX patterns of expression in fern leaves support the conservation of an independently recruited developmental mechanism for leaf dissection in megaphylls, the shoot-like nature of fern leaves compared with seed plant leaves, and the critical role marginal meristems play in fern leaf development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandra Vasco
- Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 1700 University Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76107-3400, USA
| | - Barbara A. Ambrose
- The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY 10458-5126, USA
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Xiong Y, Jiao Y. The Diverse Roles of Auxin in Regulating Leaf Development. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2019; 8:E243. [PMID: 31340506 PMCID: PMC6681310 DOI: 10.3390/plants8070243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2019] [Revised: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 07/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Leaves, the primary plant organs that function in photosynthesis and respiration, have highly organized, flat structures that vary within and among species. In recent years, it has become evident that auxin plays central roles in leaf development, including leaf initiation, blade formation, and compound leaf patterning. In this review, we discuss how auxin maxima form to define leaf primordium formation. We summarize recent progress in understanding of how spatial auxin signaling promotes leaf blade formation. Finally, we discuss how spatial auxin transport and signaling regulate the patterning of compound leaves and leaf serration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanyuan Xiong
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics and National Center for Plant Gene Research (Beijing), Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, The Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yuling Jiao
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics and National Center for Plant Gene Research (Beijing), Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, The Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
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10
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Boyce CK, Zwieniecki MA. The prospects for constraining productivity through time with the whole-plant physiology of fossils. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2019; 223:40-49. [PMID: 30304562 DOI: 10.1111/nph.15446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2017] [Accepted: 02/26/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Anatomically preserved fossils allow estimation of hydraulic parameters, potentially providing constraints on interpreting whole-plant physiology. However, different organ systems have typically been considered in isolation - a problem given common mismatches of high and low conductance components coupled in the hydraulic path of the same plant. A recent paper addressed the issue of how to handle resistance mismatches in fossil plant hydraulics, focusing on Carboniferous medullosan seed plants and arborescent lycopsids. Among other problems, however, a fundamental error was made: the transpiration stream consists of resistances in series (where resistances are additive and the component with the largest resistance can dominate the behavior of the system), but emphasis was instead placed on the lowest resistance, effectively treating the system as resistances in parallel (where the component with the smallest resistance will dominate the behavior). Instead of possessing high assimilation capacities to match high specific stem conductances, it is argued here that individual high conductance components in these Paleozoic plants are nonetheless associated with low whole-plant productivity, just as can be commonly seen in living plants. Resolution of how to handle these issues may have broad implications for the Earth system including geobiological feedbacks to rock weathering, atmospheric composition, and climate.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Kevin Boyce
- Geological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
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11
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Campany CE, Martin L, Watkins JE. Convergence of ecophysiological traits drives floristic composition of early lineage vascular plants in a tropical forest floor. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2019; 123:793-803. [PMID: 30566632 PMCID: PMC6534666 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcy210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2018] [Accepted: 11/02/2018] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Tropical understorey plant communities are highly diverse and characterized by variable resource availability, especially light. Plants in these competitive environments must carefully partition resources to ensure ecological and evolutionary success. One mechanism of effective resource partitioning is the optimization of functional traits to enhance competition in highly heterogeneous habitats. Here, we surveyed the ecophysiology of two early lineage vascular plant groups from a tropical forest understorey: Selaginella (a diverse lineage of lycophytes) and ferns. METHODS In a lowland rain forest in Costa Rica, we measured a suite of functional traits from seven species of Selaginella and six fern species. We evaluated species microclimate and habitat; several photosynthetic parameters; carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus content; chlorophyll concentration; leaf mass per area (LMA); and stomatal size and density. We then compare these two plant lineages and search for relationships between key functional parameters that already exist on a global scale for angiosperms. KEY RESULTS Convergence of trait function filtered Selaginella species into different habitats, with species in heavily shaded environments having higher chlorophyll concentrations and lower light compensation points compared with open habitats. Alternatively, lower foliar nitrogen and higher stomatal densities were detected in species occupying these open habitats. Selaginella species had denser and smaller stomata, lower LMA and lower foliar nutrient content than ferns, revealing how these plant groups optimize ecophysiological function differently in tropical forest floors. CONCLUSIONS Our findings add key pieces of missing evidence to global explorations of trait patterns that define vascular plant form and function, which largely focus on seed plants. Broadly predictable functional trait relationships were detected across both Selaginella and ferns, similar to those of seed plants. However, evolutionary canalization of microphyll leaf development appears to have driven contrasting, yet successful, ecophysiological strategies for two coexisting lineages of extant homosporous vascular plants.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lindsay Martin
- Department of Biology, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, USA
| | - James E Watkins
- Department of Biology, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, USA
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12
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Carriquí M, Roig-Oliver M, Brodribb TJ, Coopman R, Gill W, Mark K, Niinemets Ü, Perera-Castro AV, Ribas-Carbó M, Sack L, Tosens T, Waite M, Flexas J. Anatomical constraints to nonstomatal diffusion conductance and photosynthesis in lycophytes and bryophytes. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2019; 222:1256-1270. [PMID: 30623444 DOI: 10.1111/nph.15675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2018] [Accepted: 12/22/2018] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Photosynthesis in bryophytes and lycophytes has received less attention than terrestrial plant groups. In particular, few studies have addressed the nonstomatal diffusion conductance to CO2 gnsd of these plant groups. Their lower photosynthetic rate per leaf mass area at any given nitrogen concentration compared with vascular plants suggested a stronger limitation by CO2 diffusion. We hypothesized that bryophyte and lycophyte photosynthesis is largely limited by low gnsd . Here, we studied CO2 diffusion inside the photosynthetic tissues and its relationships with photosynthesis and anatomical parameters in bryophyte and lycophyte species in Antarctica, Australia, Estonia, Hawaii and Spain. On average, lycophytes and, specially, bryophytes had the lowest photosynthetic rates and nonstomatal diffusion conductance reported for terrestrial plants. These low values are related to their very thick cell walls and their low exposure of chloroplasts to cell perimeter. We conclude that the reason why bryophytes lie at the lower end of the leaf economics spectrum is their strong nonstomatal diffusion conductance limitation to photosynthesis, which is driven by their specific anatomical characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Carriquí
- Research Group on Plant Biology under Mediterranean Conditions, Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) - Instituto de Investigaciones Agroambientales y de Economía del Agua (INAGEA), Carretera de Valldemossa Km 7.5, 07122, Palma, Illes Balears, Spain
| | - Margalida Roig-Oliver
- Research Group on Plant Biology under Mediterranean Conditions, Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) - Instituto de Investigaciones Agroambientales y de Economía del Agua (INAGEA), Carretera de Valldemossa Km 7.5, 07122, Palma, Illes Balears, Spain
| | - Timothy J Brodribb
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia
| | - Rafael Coopman
- Ecophysiology Laboratory for Forest Conservation, Instituto de Conservación, Biodiversidad y Territorio, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Warwick Gill
- Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia
| | - Kristiina Mark
- Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, Tartu, 51006, Estonia
| | - Ülo Niinemets
- Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, Tartu, 51006, Estonia
- Estonian Academy of Sciences, Kohte 6, 10130, Tallinn, Estonia
| | - Alicia V Perera-Castro
- Research Group on Plant Biology under Mediterranean Conditions, Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) - Instituto de Investigaciones Agroambientales y de Economía del Agua (INAGEA), Carretera de Valldemossa Km 7.5, 07122, Palma, Illes Balears, Spain
| | - Miquel Ribas-Carbó
- Research Group on Plant Biology under Mediterranean Conditions, Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) - Instituto de Investigaciones Agroambientales y de Economía del Agua (INAGEA), Carretera de Valldemossa Km 7.5, 07122, Palma, Illes Balears, Spain
| | - Lawren Sack
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Tiina Tosens
- Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, Tartu, 51006, Estonia
| | - Mashuri Waite
- Center for Regional System Analysis, Planning, and Development, Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor, 16153, Indonesia
| | - Jaume Flexas
- Research Group on Plant Biology under Mediterranean Conditions, Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) - Instituto de Investigaciones Agroambientales y de Economía del Agua (INAGEA), Carretera de Valldemossa Km 7.5, 07122, Palma, Illes Balears, Spain
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13
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Brodersen CR, Roddy AB, Wason JW, McElrone AJ. Functional Status of Xylem Through Time. ANNUAL REVIEW OF PLANT BIOLOGY 2019; 70:407-433. [PMID: 30822114 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-arplant-050718-100455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Water transport in vascular plants represents a critical component of terrestrial water cycles and supplies the water needed for the exchange of CO2 in the atmosphere for photosynthesis. Yet, many fundamental principles of water transport are difficult to assess given the scale and location of plant xylem. Here we review the mechanistic principles that underpin long-distance water transport in vascular plants, with a focus on woody species. We also discuss the recent development of noninvasive tools to study the functional status of xylem networks in planta. Limitations of current methods to detect drought-induced xylem blockages (e.g., embolisms) and quantify corresponding declines in sap flow, and the coordination of hydraulic dysfunction with other physiological processes are assessed. Future avenues of research focused on cross-validation of plant hydraulics methods are discussed, as well as a proposed fundamental shift in the theory and methodology used to characterize and measure plant water use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Craig R Brodersen
- School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA;
| | - Adam B Roddy
- School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA;
| | - Jay W Wason
- School of Forest Resources, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469, USA
| | - Andrew J McElrone
- US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Davis, California 95616, USA
- Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA
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14
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Fang T, Motte H, Parizot B, Beeckman T. Root Branching Is Not Induced by Auxins in Selaginella moellendorffii. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2019; 10:154. [PMID: 30842783 PMCID: PMC6391681 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2018] [Accepted: 01/29/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Angiosperms develop intensively branched root systems that are accommodated with the high capacity to produce plenty of new lateral roots throughout their life-span. Root branching can be dynamically regulated in response to edaphic conditions and provides the plants with a soil-mining potential. This highly specialized branching capacity has most likely been key in the colonization success of the present flowering plants on our planet. The initiation, formation and outgrowth of branching roots in Angiosperms are dominated by the plant hormone auxin. Upon auxin treatment root branching through the formation of lateral roots can easily be induced. In this study, we questioned whether this strong branching-inducing action of auxin is part of a conserved mechanism that was already active in the earliest diverging lineage of vascular plants with roots. In Selaginella, an extant representative species of this early clade of root forming plants, components of the canonical auxin signaling pathway are retrieved in its genome. Although we observed a clear physiological response and an indirect effect on root branching, we were not able to directly induce root branching in this species by application of different auxins. We conclude that the structural and developmental difference of the Selaginella root, which branches via bifurcation of the root meristem, or the absence of an auxin-mediated root development program, is most likely causative for the absence of an auxin-induced branching mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Fang
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Hans Motte
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Boris Parizot
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Tom Beeckman
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium
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15
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Hetherington AJ, Dolan L. Rhynie chert fossils demonstrate the independent origin and gradual evolution of lycophyte roots. CURRENT OPINION IN PLANT BIOLOGY 2019; 47:119-126. [PMID: 30562673 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2018.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2018] [Revised: 12/03/2018] [Accepted: 12/04/2018] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Mapping fossil traits onto the land plant phylogenetic framework indicates that there were at least two independent origins of roots among extant vascular plants - once in lycophytes and independently in euphyllophytes. At least two rooting structural types are found among extinct species preserved in the Rhynie chert. First, species that lacked roots and developed horizontal axes that developed rhizoids. Second, the rooting axes of Asteroxylon mackiei resembled the roots of extant lycopsids but lacked root hairs and root caps. These two rooting structures preceded the evolution of the roots of extant lycophytes comprising axes on which root hairs and root caps developed. These data demonstrate the defining root characters evolved gradually in the lycophyte lineage.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Liam Dolan
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK.
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16
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17
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Du F, Guan C, Jiao Y. Molecular Mechanisms of Leaf Morphogenesis. MOLECULAR PLANT 2018; 11:1117-1134. [PMID: 29960106 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2018.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 118] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2018] [Revised: 06/06/2018] [Accepted: 06/21/2018] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Plants maintain the ability to form lateral appendages throughout their life cycle and form leaves as the principal lateral appendages of the stem. Leaves initiate at the peripheral zone of the shoot apical meristem and then develop into flattened structures. In most plants, the leaf functions as a solar panel, where photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and oxygen. To produce structures that can optimally fulfill this function, plants precisely control the initiation, shape, and polarity of leaves. Moreover, leaf development is highly flexible but follows common themes with conserved regulatory mechanisms. Leaves may have evolved from lateral branches that are converted into determinate, flattened structures. Many other plant parts, such as floral organs, are considered specialized leaves, and thus leaf development underlies their morphogenesis. Here, we review recent advances in the understanding of how three-dimensional leaf forms are established. We focus on how genes, phytohormones, and mechanical properties modulate leaf development, and discuss these factors in the context of leaf initiation, polarity establishment and maintenance, leaf flattening, and intercalary growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Du
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Chunmei Guan
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Yuling Jiao
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
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18
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Harrison CJ, Morris JL. The origin and early evolution of vascular plant shoots and leaves. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:20160496. [PMID: 29254961 PMCID: PMC5745332 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The morphology of plant fossils from the Rhynie chert has generated longstanding questions about vascular plant shoot and leaf evolution, for instance, which morphologies were ancestral within land plants, when did vascular plants first arise and did leaves have multiple evolutionary origins? Recent advances combining insights from molecular phylogeny, palaeobotany and evo-devo research address these questions and suggest the sequence of morphological innovation during vascular plant shoot and leaf evolution. The evidence pinpoints testable developmental and genetic hypotheses relating to the origin of branching and indeterminate shoot architectures prior to the evolution of leaves, and demonstrates underestimation of polyphyly in the evolution of leaves from branching forms in 'telome theory' hypotheses of leaf evolution. This review discusses fossil, developmental and genetic evidence relating to the evolution of vascular plant shoots and leaves in a phylogenetic framework.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The Rhynie cherts: our earliest terrestrial ecosystem revisited'.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Jill Harrison
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Jennifer L Morris
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
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19
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Brodribb TJ, McAdam SA, Carins Murphy MR. Xylem and stomata, coordinated through time and space. PLANT, CELL & ENVIRONMENT 2017; 40:872-880. [PMID: 27531223 DOI: 10.1111/pce.12817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2016] [Revised: 08/07/2016] [Accepted: 08/10/2016] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Land plants exhibit a degree of homeostasis in leaf water content to protect against damage to photosynthetic and xylem tissues, and to maintain an efficient allocation of resources. This is achieved by a strong coordination between the systems regulating water delivery (xylem) and water loss (stomata). This review discusses evolution in xylem and stomatal function, specifically focussing on the interactions between them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy J Brodribb
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia
| | - Scott Am McAdam
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia
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20
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Fernández-Mazuecos M, Glover BJ. The evo-devo of plant speciation. Nat Ecol Evol 2017; 1:110. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Accepted: 02/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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21
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Jill Harrison C. Development and genetics in the evolution of land plant body plans. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2017; 372:20150490. [PMID: 27994131 PMCID: PMC5182422 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 108] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/13/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The colonization of land by plants shaped the terrestrial biosphere, the geosphere and global climates. The nature of morphological and molecular innovation driving land plant evolution has been an enigma for over 200 years. Recent phylogenetic and palaeobotanical advances jointly demonstrate that land plants evolved from freshwater algae and pinpoint key morphological innovations in plant evolution. In the haploid gametophyte phase of the plant life cycle, these include the innovation of mulitcellular forms with apical growth and multiple growth axes. In the diploid phase of the life cycle, multicellular axial sporophytes were an early innovation priming subsequent diversification of indeterminate branched forms with leaves and roots. Reverse and forward genetic approaches in newly emerging model systems are starting to identify the genetic basis of such innovations. The data place plant evo-devo research at the cusp of discovering the developmental and genetic changes driving the radiation of land plant body plans.This article is part of the themed issue 'Evo-devo in the genomics era, and the origins of morphological diversity'.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Jill Harrison
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
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22
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Vasco A, Smalls TL, Graham SW, Cooper ED, Wong GKS, Stevenson DW, Moran RC, Ambrose BA. Challenging the paradigms of leaf evolution: Class III HD-Zips in ferns and lycophytes. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2016; 212:745-758. [PMID: 27385116 DOI: 10.1111/nph.14075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2015] [Accepted: 05/23/2016] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Despite the extraordinary significance leaves have for life on Earth, their origin and development remain vigorously debated. More than a century of paleobotanical, morphological, and phylogenetic research has still not resolved fundamental questions about leaves. Developmental genetic data are sparse in ferns, and comparative studies of lycophytes and seed plants have reached opposing conclusions on the conservation of a leaf developmental program. We performed phylogenetic and expression analyses of a leaf developmental regulator (Class III HD-Zip genes; C3HDZs) spanning lycophytes and ferns. We show that a duplication and neofunctionalization of C3HDZs probably occurred in the ancestor of euphyllophytes, and that there is a common leaf developmental mechanism conserved between ferns and seed plants. We show C3HDZ expression in lycophyte and fern sporangia and show that C3HDZs have conserved expression patterns during initiation of lateral primordia (leaves or sporangia). This expression is maintained throughout sporangium development in lycophytes and ferns and indicates an ancestral role of C3HDZs in sporangium development. We hypothesize that there is a deep homology of all leaves and that a sporangium-specific developmental program was coopted independently for the development of lycophyte and euphyllophyte leaves. This provides molecular genetic support for a paradigm shift in theories of lycophyte leaf evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandra Vasco
- The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY, 10458-5126, USA
- Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico DF, 04510, Mexico
| | - Tynisha L Smalls
- The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY, 10458-5126, USA
| | - Sean W Graham
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
- UBC Botanical Garden & Centre for Plant Research, University of British Columbia, 6804 Marine Drive SW, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Endymion D Cooper
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 4NS, UK
| | - Gane Ka-Shu Wong
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada
- Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E1, Canada
- BGI-Shenzhen, Beishan Industrial Zone, Yantian District, Shenzhen, 518083, China
| | - Dennis W Stevenson
- The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY, 10458-5126, USA
| | - Robbin C Moran
- The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY, 10458-5126, USA
| | - Barbara A Ambrose
- The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY, 10458-5126, USA.
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23
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Plackett ARG, Di Stilio VS, Langdale JA. Ferns: the missing link in shoot evolution and development. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2015; 6:972. [PMID: 26594222 PMCID: PMC4635223 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2015.00972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2015] [Accepted: 10/23/2015] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
Shoot development in land plants is a remarkably complex process that gives rise to an extreme diversity of forms. Our current understanding of shoot developmental mechanisms comes almost entirely from studies of angiosperms (flowering plants), the most recently diverged plant lineage. Shoot development in angiosperms is based around a layered multicellular apical meristem that produces lateral organs and/or secondary meristems from populations of founder cells at its periphery. In contrast, non-seed plant shoots develop from either single apical initials or from a small population of morphologically distinct apical cells. Although developmental and molecular information is becoming available for non-flowering plants, such as the model moss Physcomitrella patens, making valid comparisons between highly divergent lineages is extremely challenging. As sister group to the seed plants, the monilophytes (ferns and relatives) represent an excellent phylogenetic midpoint of comparison for unlocking the evolution of shoot developmental mechanisms, and recent technical advances have finally made transgenic analysis possible in the emerging model fern Ceratopteris richardii. This review compares and contrasts our current understanding of shoot development in different land plant lineages with the aim of highlighting the potential role that the fern C. richardii could play in shedding light on the evolution of underlying genetic regulatory mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R. G. Plackett
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of OxfordOxford, UK
- *Correspondence: Andrew R. G. Plackett,
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24
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Zwieniecki MA, Boyce CK. Evolution of a unique anatomical precision in angiosperm leaf venation lifts constraints on vascular plant ecology. Proc Biol Sci 2014. [PMID: 24478301 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.28] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The main role of leaf venation is to supply water across the photosynthetic surface to keep stomata open and allow access to atmospheric CO2 despite evaporative demand. The optimal uniform delivery of water occurs when the distance between veins equals the depth of vein placement within the leaf away from the evaporative surface. As presented here, only angiosperms maintain this anatomical optimum across all leaf thicknesses and different habitats, including sheltered environments where this optimization need not be required. Intriguingly, basal angiosperm lineages tend to be underinvested hydraulically; uniformly high optimization is derived independently in the magnoliids, monocots and core eudicots. Gymnosperms and ferns, including available fossils, are limited by their inability to produce high vein densities. The common association of ferns with shaded humid environments may, in part, be a direct evolutionary consequence of their inability to produce hydraulically optimized leaves. Some gymnosperms do approach optimal vein placement, but only by virtue of their ability to produce thick leaves most appropriate in environments requiring water conservation. Thus, this simple anatomical metric presents an important perspective on the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of plant ecologies and further evidence that the vegetative biology of flowering plants-not just their reproductive biology-is unique.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maciej A Zwieniecki
- Plant Sciences Department, UC Davis, , Davis, CA, USA, Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, , Stanford, CA, USA
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25
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Zwieniecki MA, Boyce CK. Evolution of a unique anatomical precision in angiosperm leaf venation lifts constraints on vascular plant ecology. Proc Biol Sci 2014; 281:20132829. [PMID: 24478301 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.2829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The main role of leaf venation is to supply water across the photosynthetic surface to keep stomata open and allow access to atmospheric CO2 despite evaporative demand. The optimal uniform delivery of water occurs when the distance between veins equals the depth of vein placement within the leaf away from the evaporative surface. As presented here, only angiosperms maintain this anatomical optimum across all leaf thicknesses and different habitats, including sheltered environments where this optimization need not be required. Intriguingly, basal angiosperm lineages tend to be underinvested hydraulically; uniformly high optimization is derived independently in the magnoliids, monocots and core eudicots. Gymnosperms and ferns, including available fossils, are limited by their inability to produce high vein densities. The common association of ferns with shaded humid environments may, in part, be a direct evolutionary consequence of their inability to produce hydraulically optimized leaves. Some gymnosperms do approach optimal vein placement, but only by virtue of their ability to produce thick leaves most appropriate in environments requiring water conservation. Thus, this simple anatomical metric presents an important perspective on the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of plant ecologies and further evidence that the vegetative biology of flowering plants-not just their reproductive biology-is unique.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maciej A Zwieniecki
- Plant Sciences Department, UC Davis, , Davis, CA, USA, Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, , Stanford, CA, USA
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26
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Raven JA, Edwards D. Photosynthesis in Early Land Plants: Adapting to the Terrestrial Environment. ADVANCES IN PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND RESPIRATION 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-6988-5_3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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27
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Vasco A, Moran RC, Ambrose BA. The evolution, morphology, and development of fern leaves. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2013; 4:345. [PMID: 24027574 PMCID: PMC3761161 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2013.00345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2013] [Accepted: 08/15/2013] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Leaves are lateral determinate structures formed in a predictable sequence (phyllotaxy) on the flanks of an indeterminate shoot apical meristem. The origin and evolution of leaves in vascular plants has been widely debated. Being the main conspicuous organ of nearly all vascular plants and often easy to recognize as such, it seems surprising that leaves have had multiple origins. For decades, morphologists, anatomists, paleobotanists, and systematists have contributed data to this debate. More recently, molecular genetic studies have provided insight into leaf evolution and development mainly within angiosperms and, to a lesser extent, lycophytes. There has been recent interest in extending leaf evolutionary developmental studies to other species and lineages, particularly in lycophytes and ferns. Therefore, a review of fern leaf morphology, evolution and development is timely. Here we discuss the theories of leaf evolution in ferns, morphology, and diversity of fern leaves, and experimental results of fern leaf development. We summarize what is known about the molecular genetics of fern leaf development and what future studies might tell us about the evolution of fern leaf development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Barbara A. Ambrose
- *Correspondence: Barbara A. Ambrose, The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458-5126, USA e-mail:
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28
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Baluška F, Mancuso S. Microorganism and filamentous fungi drive evolution of plant synapses. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2013; 3:44. [PMID: 23967407 PMCID: PMC3744040 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2013.00044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2013] [Accepted: 07/26/2013] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
In the course of plant evolution, there is an obvious trend toward an increased complexity of plant bodies, as well as an increased sophistication of plant behavior and communication. Phenotypic plasticity of plants is based on the polar auxin transport machinery that is directly linked with plant sensory systems impinging on plant behavior and adaptive responses. Similar to the emergence and evolution of eukaryotic cells, evolution of land plants was also shaped and driven by infective and symbiotic microorganisms. These microorganisms are the driving force behind the evolution of plant synapses and other neuronal aspects of higher plants; this is especially pronounced in the root apices. Plant synapses allow synaptic cell–cell communication and coordination in plants, as well as sensory-motor integration in root apices searching for water and mineral nutrition. These neuronal aspects of higher plants are closely linked with their unique ability to adapt to environmental changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- František Baluška
- IZMB, Department of Plant Cell Biology, University of Bonn Bonn, Germany.
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29
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Hoffman LA, Tomescu AMF. An early origin of secondary growth: Franhueberia gerriennei gen. et sp. nov. from the Lower Devonian of Gaspé (Quebec, Canada). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2013; 100:754-63. [PMID: 23535772 DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1300024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE OF THE STUDY Secondary xylem (wood) produced by a vascular cambium supports increased plant size and underpins the most successful model of arborescence among tracheophytes. Woody plants established the extensive forest ecosystems that dramatically changed the Earth's biosphere. Secondary growth evolved in several lineages in the Devonian, but only two occurrences have been reported previously from the Early Devonian. The evolutionary history and phylogeny of wood production are poorly understood, and Early Devonian plants are key to illuminating them. METHODS A fossil plant preserved anatomically by cellular permineralization in the Lower Devonian (Emsian, ca. 400-395 million years old) Battery Point Formation of Gaspé Bay (Quebec, Canada) is described using the cellulose acetate peel technique. KEY RESULTS The plant, Franhueberia gerriennei Hoffman et Tomescu gen. et sp. nov., is a basal euphyllophyte with a centrarch protostele and metaxylem tracheids with circular and oval to scalariform bordered multiaperturate pits (P-type tracheids). The outer layers of xylem, consisting of larger-diameter P-type tracheids, exhibit the features diagnostic of secondary xylem: radial files of tracheids, multiplicative divisions, and a combination of axial and radial components. CONCLUSIONS Franhueberia is one of the three oldest euphyllophytes exhibiting secondary growth documented in the Early Devonian. Within the euphyllophyte clade, these plants represent basal lineages that predate the evolution of stem-leaf-root organography and indicate that underlying mechanisms for secondary growth became part of the euphyllophyte developmental toolkit very early in the clade's evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurel A Hoffman
- Department of Biological Sciences, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California 95521, USA
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30
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The fossil record of development. Trends Ecol Evol 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2012.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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31
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Mathews S, Kramer EM. The evolution of reproductive structures in seed plants: a re-examination based on insights from developmental genetics. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2012; 194:910-923. [PMID: 22413867 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04091.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
The study of developmental genetics is providing insights into how plant morphology can and does evolve, and into the fundamental nature of specific organs. This new understanding has the potential to revise significantly the way we think about seed plant evolution, especially with regard to reproductive structures. Here, we have sought to take a step in bridging the divide between genetic data and critical fields such as paleobotany and systematics. We discuss the evidence for several evolutionarily important interpretations, including the possibility that ovules represent meristematic axes with their own type of lateral determinate organs (integuments) and a model that considers carpels as analogs of complex leaves. In addition, we highlight the aspects of reproductive development that are likely to be highly labile and homoplastic, factors that have major implications for the understanding of seed plant relationships. Although these hypotheses may suggest that some long-standing interpretations are misleading, they also open up whole new avenues for comparative study and suggest concrete best practices for evolutionary analyses of development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Mathews
- Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, 1300 Centre Street, Boston, MA 02131, USA
| | - Elena M Kramer
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA, USA
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32
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Pires ND, Dolan L. Morphological evolution in land plants: new designs with old genes. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2012; 367:508-18. [PMID: 22232763 PMCID: PMC3248709 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 145] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The colonization and radiation of multicellular plants on land that started over 470 Ma was one of the defining events in the history of this planet. For the first time, large amounts of primary productivity occurred on the continental surface, paving the way for the evolution of complex terrestrial ecosystems and altering global biogeochemical cycles; increased weathering of continental silicates and organic carbon burial resulted in a 90 per cent reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The evolution of plants on land was itself characterized by a series of radical transformations of their body plans that included the formation of three-dimensional tissues, de novo evolution of a multicellular diploid sporophyte generation, evolution of multicellular meristems, and the development of specialized tissues and organ systems such as vasculature, roots, leaves, seeds and flowers. In this review, we discuss the evolution of the genes and developmental mechanisms that drove the explosion of plant morphologies on land. Recent studies indicate that many of the gene families which control development in extant plants were already present in the earliest land plants. This suggests that the evolution of novel morphologies was to a large degree driven by the reassembly and reuse of pre-existing genetic mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Liam Dolan
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK
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Christianson ML, Niklas KJ. Patterns of diversity in leaves from canopies of Ginkgo biloba are revealed using Specific Leaf Area as a morphological character. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2011; 98:1068-76. [PMID: 21712418 DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1000452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE OF THE STUDY The difference reported in the literature for the Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm(2)/g) of leaves on short- and long-shoots of Acer rubrum could mean that SLA can serve as a quantitative morphological trait. Our survey of SLA in canopies of Ginkgo biloba sampled a different clade of seed plants to investigate this morphological phenomenon. Such a survey in this dioecious taxon, and one in which a single canopy may have juvenile and reproductive portions, as well as one where canopies bear leaves of several shapes, examine these additional morphological factors as well as any long-shoot short-shoot differences. METHODS We measured SLA for a set of 642 dried leaves, a sampling across all morphological levels in canopies of large landscape specimens. The tabulated values were analyzed as distributions. KEY RESULTS Populations of leaves of G. biloba, sorted by morphological features of canopy structure, differ between long- and short-shoots (175%), on the two genders of tree (131%), in the juvenile and reproductive portions of a canopy (183%), and with the presence or absence of seed on short-shoots in the reproductive portion of megasporangiate canopies (114%). Basipetal leaves of long-shoots and leaves of short-shoots have similar values of SLA. CONCLUSIONS With the exception of the acropetal decrease in SLA along long-shoots, the differences among the several classes of leaf seem to reflect local sink strength, even though the sink itself develops after leaves mature. The large overall range in the values of SLA in Ginkgo underscores the relevance of the details of canopy structure to parsing ecological phenomena.
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Nicotra AB, Leigh A, Boyce CK, Jones CS, Niklas KJ, Royer DL, Tsukaya H. The evolution and functional significance of leaf shape in the angiosperms. FUNCTIONAL PLANT BIOLOGY : FPB 2011; 38:535-552. [PMID: 32480907 DOI: 10.1071/fp11057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 203] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2011] [Accepted: 05/30/2011] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Angiosperm leaves manifest a remarkable diversity of shapes that range from developmental sequences within a shoot and within crown response to microenvironment to variation among species within and between communities and among orders or families. It is generally assumed that because photosynthetic leaves are critical to plant growth and survival, variation in their shape reflects natural selection operating on function. Several non-mutually exclusive theories have been proposed to explain leaf shape diversity. These include: thermoregulation of leaves especially in arid and hot environments, hydraulic constraints, patterns of leaf expansion in deciduous species, biomechanical constraints, adaptations to avoid herbivory, adaptations to optimise light interception and even that leaf shape variation is a response to selection on flower form. However, the relative importance, or likelihood, of each of these factors is unclear. Here we review the evolutionary context of leaf shape diversification, discuss the proximal mechanisms that generate the diversity in extant systems, and consider the evidence for each the above hypotheses in the context of the functional significance of leaf shape. The synthesis of these broad ranging areas helps to identify points of conceptual convergence for ongoing discussion and integrated directions for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrienne B Nicotra
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
| | - Andrea Leigh
- School of the Environment, University of Technology, Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - C Kevin Boyce
- Department of the Geophysical Sciences, 5734 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Cynthia S Jones
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 75 N. Eagleville Road, Unit-3043, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
| | - Karl J Niklas
- Department of Plant Biology, Cornell University, 412 Mann Library Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Dana L Royer
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan University, 265 Church Street, Middletown, CT 06459, USA
| | - Hirokazu Tsukaya
- Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Science Build #2, 7-3-1 Hongo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
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Bourque L, Lacroix C. Lobe-generating centres in the simple leaves of Myriophyllum aquaticum: evidence for KN1-like activity. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2011; 107:639-651. [PMID: 21330333 PMCID: PMC3064546 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcr014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2010] [Revised: 11/29/2010] [Accepted: 12/21/2010] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS The mature morphology of most plants can usually be said to consist of three mutually exclusive organs: leaves, stems, and roots. The vast majority of mature morphologies may be easily grouped into one of these mutually exclusive categories. However, during very early stages of development and in many instances from inception, the division between organ categories becomes fuzzy due to the overlap in developmental processes that are shared between the aforementioned mutually exclusive categories. One such overlap has been described at the gene level where KNOXI homologues, transcription factors responsible for maintaining indeterminate cell fate, are expressed in the shoot apical meristem and during early stages of compound leaf development. This study characterizes the occurrence and spatial localization of mRNA of a KNOXI homologue, MaKN1, during the early stages of development in the simple leaves of Myriophyllum aquaticum, an aquatic angiosperm from the family Haloragaceae exhibiting pentamerous whorls of finely lobed leaves. METHODS A 300-bp KNOXI fragment was sequenced from M. aquaticum and used in an RNA localization study to determine the temporal and spatial expression of KNOXI during the early stages of leaf lobe development in M. aquaticum. The developmental sequence of leaves of M. aquaticum was also described using scanning electron microscopy. KEY RESULTS Lobe development of M. aquaticum occurs in two very distinct regions at the leaf base in an alternating fashion reminiscent of a distichous shoot system. It was discovered that MaKN1 expression is localized to both the shoot apical meristem and early stages of leaf primordia development (P1-P7). Initially, MaKN1 is expressed ubiquitously throughout primordia (P1-P3); however, as lobes develop, MaKN1 becomes localized to recently emerged lobe primordia, and disappears as lobes develop basipetally. CONCLUSIONS The pattern of gene expression is indicative of shared developmental processes during early development between shoots, compound leaves, highly lobed simple leaves and unifoliate simple leaves which lack KNOXI expression. These findings are supportive of Arber's less rigid 'partial shoot' theory, which conceptualizes compound leaves as having shoot-like elements.
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Proust H, Hoffmann B, Xie X, Yoneyama K, Schaefer DG, Yoneyama K, Nogué F, Rameau C. Strigolactones regulate protonema branching and act as a quorum sensing-like signal in the moss Physcomitrella patens. Development 2011; 138:1531-9. [PMID: 21367820 DOI: 10.1242/dev.058495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 159] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Strigolactones are a novel class of plant hormones controlling shoot branching in seed plants. They also signal host root proximity during symbiotic and parasitic interactions. To gain a better understanding of the origin of strigolactone functions, we characterised a moss mutant strongly affected in strigolactone biosynthesis following deletion of the CAROTENOID CLEAVAGE DIOXYGENASE 8 (CCD8) gene. Here, we show that wild-type Physcomitrella patens produces and releases strigolactones into the medium where they control branching of protonemal filaments and colony extension. We further show that Ppccd8 mutant colonies fail to sense the proximity of neighbouring colonies, which in wild-type plants causes the arrest of colony extension. The mutant phenotype is rescued when grown in the proximity of wild-type colonies, by exogenous supply of synthetic strigolactones or by ectopic expression of seed plant CCD8. Thus, our data demonstrate for the first time that Bryophytes (P. patens) produce strigolactones that act as signalling factors controlling developmental and potentially ecophysiological processes. We propose that in P. patens, strigolactones are reminiscent of quorum-sensing molecules used by bacteria to communicate with one another.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hélène Proust
- Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, UMR 1318 INRA-AgroParisTech, Centre de Versailles-Grignon, Versailles Cedex, France
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Hobbie EA, Boyce CK. Carbon sources for the Palaeozoic giant fungus Prototaxites inferred from modern analogues. Proc Biol Sci 2010; 277:2149-56. [PMID: 20335209 PMCID: PMC2880155 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.0201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2010] [Accepted: 03/01/2010] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
A wide range of carbon isotope values in the Devonian fossil Prototaxites has been interpreted to support heterotrophy and the classification of Prototaxites as a giant fungus. This inference remains controversial because of the huge size of Prototaxites relative to co-occurring terrestrial vegetation and the lack of existing fungal analogues that display equally broad isotopic ranges. Here, we show wide isotopic variability in the modern saprotrophic fungus Arrhenia obscurata collected adjacent to shallow meltwater pools of a sparsely vegetated glacial succession in the Washington Cascades, USA. Soils collected specifically around the edges of these pools were up to 5 per thousand higher in delta(13)C than adjacent soils consistent with C(3) origin. Microbial sources of primary production appear to cause these high delta(13)C values, and the environment may be analogous to that of the Early Devonian landscapes, where Prototaxites individuals with extreme isotopic variance were found. Carbon isotopes are also compared in Prototaxites, Devonian terrestrial vascular plants, and Devonian algal-derived lake sediments. Prototaxites isotopic values show little correspondence with those of contemporaneous tracheophytes, providing further evidence that non-vascular land plants or aquatic microbes were important contributors to its carbon sources. Thus, a saprotrophic fungal identity is supported for Prototaxites, which may have relied on deposits of algal-derived organic matter in floodplain environments that were less dominated by vascular plants than a straight reading of the macrofossil record might suggest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik A Hobbie
- Complex Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA.
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Abstract
Most leaves are dorsiventrally flattened and develop clearly defined upper and lower surfaces. Light capturing is the specialization of the adaxial or upper surface and the abaxial or lower surface is specialized for gas exchange (Fig. 5.1). This division into adaxial and abaxial domains is also key for the outgrowth of the leaf blade or lamina, which occurs along the boundary between the upper and lower sides. How this polarity is set up is not clear but genetic analysis in a range of species suggests that several highly conserved interlocking pathways are involved. Positional information from the meristem is reinforced by signaling through the epidermal layer as the meristem grows away from the leaf primordium. Opposing ta-siRNA and miRNA gradients help refine distinct adaxial and abaxial sides, and mutual inhibition between the genes expressed on each side stabilizes the boundary. In this review we consider how recent work in a range of species is clarifying our understanding of these processes.
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