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Plant evolution: landmarks on the path to terrestrial life
Author(s) -
Vries Jan,
Archibald John M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.14975
Subject(s) - biology , exaptation , plant evolution , algae , lineage (genetic) , ecology , botany , adaptation (eye) , evolutionary biology , biochemistry , genome , neuroscience , gene
ContentsSummary 1428 I. The singularity of plant terrestrialization 1428 II. Adaptation vs exaptation – what shaped the land plant toolkit? 1430 III. Trait mosaicism in (higher‐branching) streptophyte algae 1431 IV. Conclusions: a streptophyte algal perspective on land plant trait evolution 1432Acknowledgements 1432ORCID 1433References 1433Summary Photosynthetic eukaryotes thrive anywhere there is sunlight and water. But while such organisms are exceptionally diverse in form and function, only one phototrophic lineage succeeded in rising above its substrate: the land plants (embryophytes). Molecular phylogenetic data show that land plants evolved from streptophyte algae most closely related to extant Zygnematophyceae, and one of the principal aims of plant evolutionary biology is to uncover the key features of such algae that enabled this important transition. At the present time, however, mosaic and reductive evolution blur our picture of the closest algal ancestors of plants. Here we discuss recent progress and problems in inferring the biology of the algal progenitor of the terrestrial photosynthetic macrobiome.