Origin of land plants: Do conjugating green algae hold the key?
2011
The Key to Land Plant Evolution: Conjugating Green Algae
Sample size: 40
publication
Evidence: moderate
Author Information
Author(s): Sabina Wodniok, Henner Brinkmann, Gernot Glöckner, Andrew J Heidel, Hervé Philippe, Michael Melkonian, Burkhard Becker
Hypothesis
Are conjugating green algae the closest relatives to land plants?
Conclusion
The study suggests that Zygnematales or a clade of Zygnematales and Coleochaetales are the closest living relatives of land plants, not Charales.
Supporting Evidence
- The study used a dataset of 129 proteins from 40 green plant taxa.
- Phylogenetic analyses indicated that Zygnematales or a clade of Zygnematales and Coleochaetales are the sister group to embryophytes.
- The results align with previous studies based on chloroplast genomes.
Takeaway
Scientists studied green algae to find out which ones are most like land plants, and they think some types of green algae are the closest relatives.
Methodology
Phylogenetic analysis using a large dataset of nuclear-encoded genes from various green plant taxa.
Limitations
Additional data are needed to confirm the findings.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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