Journal ArticleDOI
Establishing a time-scale for plant evolution
TLDR
A post-Jurassic origin of angiosperms and a post-Cambrian origin of land plants are rejected, and it is suggested that the establishment of the major embryophyte lineages occurred at a much slower tempo than suggested in most previous studies.Abstract:
• Plants have utterly transformed the planet, but testing hypotheses of causality requires a reliable time-scale for plant evolution. While clock methods have been extensively developed, less attention has been paid to the correct interpretation and appropriate implementation of fossil data. • We constructed 17 calibrations, consisting of minimum constraints and soft maximum constraints, for divergences between model representatives of the major land plant lineages. Using a data set of seven plastid genes, we performed a cross-validation analysis to determine the consistency of the calibrations. Six molecular clock analyses were then conducted, one with the original calibrations, and others exploring the impact on divergence estimates of changing maxima at basal nodes, and prior probability densities within calibrations. • Cross-validation highlighted Tracheophyta and Euphyllophyta calibrations as inconsistent, either because their soft maxima were overly conservative or because of undetected rate variation. Molecular clock analyses yielded estimates ranging from 568-815 million yr before present (Ma) for crown embryophytes and from 175-240 Ma for crown angiosperms. • We reject both a post-Jurassic origin of angiosperms and a post-Cambrian origin of land plants. Our analyses also suggest that the establishment of the major embryophyte lineages occurred at a much slower tempo than suggested in most previous studies. These conclusions are entirely compatible with current palaeobotanical data, although not necessarily with their interpretation by palaeobotanists.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Congruence test of molecular clock calibration hypotheses based on Bayes factor comparisons
TL;DR: In this paper, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CGL2006/06706 and CGL2009-10906 to C.A. and J.G.-Z., the latter also with support of the European Regional Development Fund).
Journal ArticleDOI
Recognising angiosperm clades in the Early Cretaceous fossil record
TL;DR: Associated flowers indicate that palmately lobed ‘platanoids’ and Sapindopsis are both stem relatives of Platanus, while Nelumbites was related to Nelumbo (also Proteales) and Spanomera to Buxaceae.
Journal ArticleDOI
Unique cellular organization in the oldest root meristem
TL;DR: The discovery of the first fossilized remains of an actively growing root meristem from permineralized Carboniferous soil with detail of the stem cells and differentiating cells preserved demonstrates that extant root Meristem organization and development represents only a subset of the diversity that has existed since roots first evolved.
Journal ArticleDOI
Multiple innovations underpinned branching form diversification in mosses.
Yoan Coudert,Yoan Coudert,Yoan Coudert,Neil E. Bell,Claude Edelin,C. Jill Harrison,C. Jill Harrison +6 more
TL;DR: The results pinpoint the nature of developmental change priming branching form diversification in mosses and provide a framework for mechanistic studies of architectural diversification.
Posted ContentDOI
Time-resolved comparative molecular evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis
Tom H. Oliver,Patricia Sánchez-Baracaldo,Anthony W. D. Larkum,A. William Rutherford,Tanai Cardona +4 more
TL;DR: This work demonstrates that the ancestral core duplication of photosystem II exhibits patterns in the rates of protein evolution through geological time that are nearly identical to those of the ATP synthase, RNA polymerase, or the ribosome, and suggests that photosynthetic water oxidation originated closer to the origin of life and bioenergetics than can be documented based on species trees alone.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
PAML 4: Phylogenetic Analysis by Maximum Likelihood
TL;DR: PAML, currently in version 4, is a package of programs for phylogenetic analyses of DNA and protein sequences using maximum likelihood (ML), which can be used to estimate parameters in models of sequence evolution and to test interesting biological hypotheses.
Journal ArticleDOI
Relaxed Phylogenetics and Dating with Confidence
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce a new approach to perform relaxed phylogenetic analysis, which can be used to estimate phylogenies and divergence times in the face of uncertainty in evolutionary rates and calibration times.
BookDOI
A Geologic Time Scale 2004
TL;DR: Gradstein et al. as discussed by the authors proposed a chronostratigraphy approach for linking time and rock in the context of geologic time scales, including the geomagnetic polarity time scale and stable isotope geochronology.
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