Biological Sciences

Plant Evolution

Plant evolution refers to the process by which plants have changed and diversified over time. It encompasses the development of various plant adaptations, such as vascular tissues, seeds, and flowers, as well as the emergence of different plant groups, from algae to flowering plants. Understanding plant evolution provides insights into the history and diversity of plant life on Earth.

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2 Key excerpts on "Plant Evolution"

  • Botany For Dummies
    eBook - ePub

    Botany For Dummies

    • Rene Fester Kratz(Author)
    • 2011(Publication Date)
    • For Dummies
      (Publisher)
    Part IV The Wide, Wonderful World of Plants: Plant Biodiversity
    In this part . . .
    P
    lants appeared on Earth long ago and have evolved many complex and wondrous forms, from tiny floating pond weeds to the mighty redwood tree. Just as you can draw a family tree for your family, scientists draw family trees, that show relationships among all the living things on earth. In this part, I introduce the amazing diversity of plant groups found in the family tree of life on Earth.
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    Chapter 13 Changing with the Times: Evolution and Adaptation In This Chapter
    Understanding the sources of genetic change
    Examining Plant Evolution
    Checking out plant adaptations
    L
    ife on Earth is constantly changing in response to environmental changes. Life, including plants, migrated from the oceans to the land, dinosaurs have come and gone, and modern humans evolved and spread over the face of the Earth. Biological evolution is the process that leads to changes in the species of life on Earth. Biological evolution occurs through a combination of genetic changes and natural selection. This chapter presents the fundamentals of biological evolution, examples of how to measure evolution in populations, and an exploration of some of the amazing adaptations resulting from Plant Evolution.
    Figuring Out the Fundamentals of Evolution
    Evolution is change that occurs over time. Biological evolution
    more specifically refers to changes in living organisms that occur over time. Life on Earth is constantly changing, usually in ways so small you’d hardly even notice. But if you look over huge spans of geological time — millions or billions of years — you can see the big changes that result from biological evolution, from the migration of life from the ocean to the land to the rise and fall of the dinosaurs. During this history of life on Earth, plants have changed from strictly aquatic organisms to simple land plants that reproduced by spores to the more dramatic cone-bearing and flowering plants that grow all around you today.
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  • Annual Plant Reviews, The Evolution of Plant Form
    eBook - ePub

    Annual Plant Reviews, The Evolution of Plant Form

    • Barbara A. Ambrose, Michael D. Purugganan(Authors)
    • 2012(Publication Date)
    • Wiley-Blackwell
      (Publisher)
    Chapter 7 GENOMICS, ADAPTATION, AND THE EVOLUTION OF PLANT FORM Kristen Shepard Department of Biological Sciences, Barnard College, New York, NY, USA
    Abstract: A central question in the evolution of plant development is to understand how modifications of plant form contribute to adaptation within a species. Molecular population genomics and quantitative genetics offer complementary tools for answering this question. Quantitative trait locus mapping identifies genetic variation that underlies variation in plant form, while analyses of nucleotide diversity illuminate the evolutionary history of developmentally relevant genes. By combining these tools with developmental genetic characterization of natural sequence variants and with ecological experiments that test adaptive hypotheses, recent studies have begun to tease apart the genetic basis of adaptation. This chapter includes an overview of genome-wide mapping and population genomic methods, as well as case studies detailing the application of these techniques in root development, plant domestication, phytochrome-mediated phenotypic variation, and regulation of flowering time.
    Keywords: plant development; molecular population genetics; QTLmapping; natural variation; evolution of development; adaptation; association mapping; phytochrome; flowering time; BREVIS RADIX .
    7.1 Overview
    A central goal of studies in the evolution of plant development is to understand how developmental mechanisms have been modified to generate the amazing diversity of plant form that we see around us. We know that diversity in the genome underlies the intraspecific and interspecific changes in plant development. Yet, even within a species, the genomes of any two individuals can differ in hundreds of thousands to millions of nucleotide sites as well as insertion/deletions (indels) and even gene copy number variants. Which of these genetic changes actually influences plant form? And, how do we determine whether this molecular variation is indeed adaptive?
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