Tag: Evolution

To better understand plant responses to different environments, Lou et al. compared Arabidopsis thaliana accessions derived from Sichuan (high precipitation/regular flooding) and Tibet (arid) to isolate genetic adaptations towards flooding stress. The two accessions showed divergent phenotypes: the Sichuan…

Keystone species shape the structure of an entire ecosystem, but can a gene determine structure of the whole ecosystem?  A recent study indicates yes, some genes can, and such genes are called keystone genes. Barbour et al. set up a small ecosystem containing two herbivore aphids, one predator of these…

Von der Heyde and Hallmann uncover the enormous dynamics of early cell divisions in Volvox embryos.  https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac004 Eva Laura von der Heyde and Armin Hallmann Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology of Plants, University of Bielefeld, Universitätsstr. 25, 33615…

At some point, most biology students learn the term “dioecy” (two houses), which refers to the separation of male and female function into different individuals, a characteristic that is common in animals but less so in flowering plants. About 6% of angiosperms and 65% of gymnosperms are dioecious,…

Generally, evolution is driven by natural selection, but not always. Human activities lead to the creation of unique niches, and other organisms must adapt accordingly. Cities are unique niches that are significantly different from rural areas and natural conditions. The urban habitat provides plants…

Seed dormancy is widely recognized as a key mechanism to ensure that germination takes place under the most suitable conditions. Such is its importance that multiple studies have described the morphological, physiological, and genetic mechanisms behind it, yet its global distribution and the past and…

Huang, Chen and colleagues take advantage of a partial duplicated gene to compare the functions of the partial duplicate and its parental copy.  By Yuan Huang, Jiahui Chen, Shengqian Xia and Manyuan Long, Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, Chicago, USA  Background:…

The availability of genome data from across the kingdom of plants has provided insights into plant evolution, and particularly the emergence of land plants. Here, Bowles et al. explore the genetic origins of three key innovations that supported the expansion of land plants: stomata, vascular tissues,…