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| Open AccessPhylogenomics and the rise of the angiosperms
Phylogenomic analysis of 7,923 angiosperm species using a standardized set of 353 nuclear genes produced an angiosperm tree of life dated with 200 fossil calibrations, providing key insights into evolutionary relationships and diversification.
- Alexandre R. Zuntini
- , Tom Carruthers
- & William J. Baker
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Article |
Cycles of satellite and transposon evolution in Arabidopsis centromeres
Inter- and intra-species comparison of Arabidopsis centromere variation identifies rapid cycles of transposon invasion and purging through satellite homogenization that drive centromere evolution.
- Piotr Wlodzimierz
- , Fernando A. Rabanal
- & Ian R. Henderson
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Article
| Open AccessThe giant diploid faba genome unlocks variation in a global protein crop
Using a high-quality chromosome-scale assembly of the faba bean genome, the genetic basis of seed size and hilum colour is explored.
- Murukarthick Jayakodi
- , Agnieszka A. Golicz
- & Stig Uggerhøj Andersen
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Article |
Mesozoic cupules and the origin of the angiosperm second integument
Analysis of recurved cupules from a newly discovered Early Cretaceous silicified peat in Inner Mongolia, China and comparison with other potentially related Mesozoic plant fossils provides insight into the origins of angiosperms.
- Gongle Shi
- , Fabiany Herrera
- & Peter R. Crane
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Article |
Developmental and biophysical determinants of grass leaf size worldwide
Relationships between leaf size and vein architecture in more than 1,700 grass species worldwide show that grasses native to colder and drier climates have shorter and narrower leaves that provide them with physiological advantages.
- Alec S. Baird
- , Samuel H. Taylor
- & Lawren Sack
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Article
| Open AccessThe water lily genome and the early evolution of flowering plants
The genome of the tropical blue-petal water lily Nymphaea colorata and the transcriptomes from 19 other Nymphaeales species provide insights into the early evolution of angiosperms.
- Liangsheng Zhang
- , Fei Chen
- & Haibao Tang
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Article
| Open AccessOne thousand plant transcriptomes and the phylogenomics of green plants
The One Thousand Plant Transcriptomes Initiative provides a robust phylogenomic framework for examining green plant evolution that comprises the transcriptomes and genomes of diverse species of green plants.
- James H. Leebens-Mack
- , Michael S. Barker
- & Gane Ka-Shu Wong
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Letter |
Non-photosynthetic predators are sister to red algae
Species of the eukaryotic phylum Rhodelphidia are non-photosynthetic, flagellate predators with gene-rich genomes, in contrast to their closely related sister lineage—the red algae—which are immotile, typically photoautotrophic and have relatively small intron-poor genomes and reduced metabolism.
- Ryan M. R. Gawryluk
- , Denis V. Tikhonenkov
- & Patrick J. Keeling
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Letter |
Stepwise and independent origins of roots among land plants
Meristems of the rooting axes of Asteroxylon mackiei preserved in 407-million-year-old Rhynie chert lack root caps, which demonstrates that the evolution of the root systems of modern vascular plants occurred in a stepwise fashion.
- Alexander J. Hetherington
- & Liam Dolan
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Article
| Open AccessGenomics of the origin and evolution of Citrus
The origin, evolution and domestication of Citrus and the genealogy of the most important wild and cultivated citrus varieties.
- Guohong Albert Wu
- , Javier Terol
- & Manuel Talon
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Letter
| Open AccessGenome sequence of the progenitor of the wheat D genome Aegilops tauschii
A combination of advanced sequencing and mapping techniques is used to produce a reference genome of Aegilops tauschii, progenitor of the wheat D genome, providing a valuable resource for comparative genetic studies.
- Ming-Cheng Luo
- , Yong Q. Gu
- & Jan Dvořák
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Article |
Disorder in convergent floral nanostructures enhances signalling to bees
Disordered nanoscale striations on petals, tepals and bracts have evolved multiple times among flowering plants and provide a salient visual signal to foraging bumblebees (Bombus terrestris).
- Edwige Moyroud
- , Tobias Wenzel
- & Beverley J. Glover
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Letter
| Open AccessThe sunflower genome provides insights into oil metabolism, flowering and Asterid evolution
A high-quality reference for the sunflower genome (Helianthus annuus L.) and analysis of gene networks involved in flowering time and oil metabolism provide a basis for nutritional exploitation and analyses of adaptation to climate change.
- Hélène Badouin
- , Jérôme Gouzy
- & Nicolas B. Langlade
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Letter
| Open AccessThe genome of the seagrass Zostera marina reveals angiosperm adaptation to the sea
Whole-genome sequencing of the seagrass Zostera, representing the first marine angiosperm genome to be fully sequenced, provides insight into the evolutionary changes associated with a transition to a marine environment in this angiosperm lineage.
- Jeanine L. Olsen
- , Pierre Rouzé
- & Yves Van de Peer
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Letter
| Open AccessSingle-molecule sequencing of the desiccation-tolerant grass Oropetium thomaeum
Oropetium thomaeum is a resurrection plant that can survive extreme water stress through desiccation to complete dryness, providing a model for drought tolerance; here, whole-genome sequencing and assembly of the Oropetium genome using single-molecule real-time sequencing is reported.
- Robert VanBuren
- , Doug Bryant
- & Todd C. Mockler
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Letter |
Horizontal genome transfer as an asexual path to the formation of new species
The formation of a new species can occur by an asexual mechanism by transfer of entire nuclear genomes between plant cells as shown by the creation of a new allopolyploid plant from parental herbaceous and woody plant species, this mechanism is a potential new tool for crop improvement.
- Ignacia Fuentes
- , Sandra Stegemann
- & Ralph Bock
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Letter |
Three keys to the radiation of angiosperms into freezing environments
This large comparative phylogenetic study across angiosperms shows that species that are herbaceous or have small conduits evolved these traits before colonizing environments with freezing conditions, whereas deciduous species changed their climate niche before becoming deciduous.
- Amy E. Zanne
- , David C. Tank
- & Jeremy M. Beaulieu
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Letter
| Open AccessDraft genome of the wheat A-genome progenitor Triticum urartu
The genome sequence and its analysis of the diploid wild wheat Triticum urartu (progenitor of the wheat A genome) represent a tool for studying the complex, polyploid wheat genomes and should be a valuable resource for the genetic improvement of wheat.
- Hong-Qing Ling
- , Shancen Zhao
- & Jun Wang
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Letter
| Open AccessAegilops tauschii draft genome sequence reveals a gene repertoire for wheat adaptation
Sequencing and analysing the diploid genome and transcriptome of Aegilops tauschii provide new insights into the role of this genome in enabling the adaptation of bread wheat and are a step towards understanding the very large and complicated hexaploid genomes of wheat species.
- Jizeng Jia
- , Shancen Zhao
- & Jun Wang
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Letter |
Evolution of the chalcone-isomerase fold from fatty-acid binding to stereospecific catalysis
The diffusion limited stereospecific enzyme chalcone isomerase represents the adaptive evolution of a catalytically perfected enzyme from non-catalytic, fatty-acid-binding proteins (FAPs) with contemporary roles in plant fatty-acid metabolism as evidenced by altered fatty acid content and marked reproductive defects in Arabidopsis thaliana plants bearing FAP knockouts.
- Micheline N. Ngaki
- , Gordon V. Louie
- & Joseph P. Noel
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News |
Gene behind van Gogh’s sunflowers pinpointed
‘Double-flowered’ mutation sheds light on the evolution of an iconic bouquet.
- Helen Thompson
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Research Highlights |
Outback palms were planted
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News & Views |
In the shade of the oldest forest
The uncovering of a large soil surface preserved under sediment for 390 million years has exposed plant remains which show that the world's earliest forests were much more complex than previously thought. See Letter p.78
- Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud
- & Anne-Laure Decombeix
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Letter |
Surprisingly complex community discovered in the mid-Devonian fossil forest at Gilboa
Mapping of Eospermatopteris root systems within ‘the Earth’s earliest forest’ clarifies its palaeoecology, produces a new interpretation of aneurophytaleans and extends the range for arborescent lycopsids.
- William E. Stein
- , Christopher M. Berry
- & Frank Mannolini
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News |
How the first plant came to be
A genetic analysis reveals the ancient, complex — and symbiotic — roots of photosynthesis in plants.
- David Biello
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News |
Hungry plant traps worms underground
Hidden feeding strategy suggests carnivory is more common than was thought.
- Katherine Rowland
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Research Highlights |
New origins for old plants
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Letter |
Spontaneous epigenetic variation in the Arabidopsis thaliana methylome
- Claude Becker
- , Jörg Hagmann
- & Detlef Weigel
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Letter |
A eudicot from the Early Cretaceous of China
The early history of flowering plants (angiosperms) is contentious. However, many fossils attributable to flowering plants have been found in the Early Cretaceous of China. The plant reported in this study goes a step further: not only is it an angiosperm, but it is a member of a relatively derived group, the eudicots, and possibly a member of the Ranunculaceae, an extant family of plants. This indicates that angiosperm evolution probably got into its stride even earlier than the Early Cretaceous.
- Ge Sun
- , David L. Dilcher
- & Zhiduan Chen
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Autumn Books |
Botany: Hitchers, outcasts and wasteland beauties
Sandra Knapp revels in a portrait of weeds as resilient rebels shaped by our meddling with the wild.
- Sandra Knapp
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Research Highlights |
Plant evolution: Model plant's secret past
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News |
Daisy family shows its roots
Fossils reveal the origin of the largest group of flowering plants.
- Janelle Weaver
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News |
Taking molecular snaps of ancient crops
RNA molecules could help to reveal plant breeding in action hundreds of years ago.
- Ewen Callaway
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News & Views |
The hidden cost of transpiration
Theoretical analyses reveal how plant investment in the architecture of leaf veins can be shuffled for different conditions, minimizing the construction costs associated with supplying water to leaves.
- David J. Beerling
- & Peter J. Franks