| Abstract Detail
Biology of Isoetales, a colloquium in honor of Dr. W. Carl Taylor Hetherington, Alexander [1], Dolan, Liam [1]. The evolution of Isoetalean rooting structures: conservatism and disparity. The diversity of rooting structures of both extinct and extant Isoetales has fascinated and perplexed botanists and palaeobotanists for well over 150 years. However, this diversity has made reconstructing the character state transitions during the evolution of Isoetalean and all lycopsid rooting systems challenging. Highlighting recent discoveries made with fossils and comparative transcriptomic studies we suggest that the evolution of Isoetalean rooting structures displays two contrasting patterns – conservatism and disparity. The structures termed rootlets have remained structurally similar despite hundreds of millions of years of evolution – an example of remarkable conservatism. By contrast, and over the same time period, the organs that give rise to rootlets termed rhizomorphs have diversi?ed, resulting in the evolution of numerous disparate morphologies. Comparison of Isoetalean rooting structures with those of other lycopsids reveals that these two contrasting patterns of rooting structure evolution, conservation of roots and disparity in the structures that give rise to root, are common to all lycopsids.
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1 - Oxford University, Plant Sciences, South Parks Road, Oxford, 0X1 3RB, UK
Keywords:
Isoetes
Root evolution
paleobotany
Evolution
Roots.
Presentation Type: Colloquium Presentations
Session: C05, Biology of Isoetales, a colloquium in honor of W. Carl Taylor
Location: 101/Mayo Civic Center
Date: Tuesday, July 24th, 2018
Time: 8:45 AM
Number: C05003
Abstract ID:115
Candidate for Awards:None |
