| Abstract Detail
Paleobotany Strother, Paul [1], Taylor, Wilson [2]. The fossil record and the assembly of the plant genome. Recently constructed molecular trees now place the origin of the embryophytes during the Cambrian, which, coincidentally, matches the first record of the cryptospores sensu lato. However, we currently interpret these earliest spore-like microfossils to be members of an evolving complex of aeroterrestrial streptophyte algae. Such an interpretation is supported by messy meiosis in extant streptophyte algae, in combination with our own work on cryptospore wall topology. This "spores before sporophytes" model is congruent with the antithetic hypothesis for the origin of the plant sporophyte, and with the developmental biology of sporogenesis in bryophytes. Its application to the fossil record reminds us that the origin of land plants was not a singularity in geologic time; rather, it represents the end result of the genomic assimilation of plant development from streptophyte algal ancestors. We are now beginning to view the early Paleozoic fossil record of recalcitrant tissues - spores, cuticles and nematoclasts -as a manifestation of the assembly of the plant developmental toolkit.
Log in to add this item to your schedule
Related Links:
Paul K Strother website
1 - Boston College, Weston Observatory, 381 Concord Road, Weston, MA, 02493, United States
2 - University Of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Department Of Biology, Eau Claire, WI, 54701.0, United States
Keywords:
nematoclast
origin of plants
Bower
terrestrialization
canalization
Adinosporus
Tetrahedraletes.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 23, Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic Paleobotany
Location: 109/Mayo Civic Center
Date: Tuesday, July 24th, 2018
Time: 8:30 AM
Number: 23001
Abstract ID:396
Candidate for Awards:None |
