Cited by 1,020Protist diversity and phylogenyPlant Diversity and EvolutionPaleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils

Molecular Evidence for the Early Colonization of Land by Fungi and Plants

Heckman, Daniel S., Geiser, David M., Eidell, Brooke R., Stauffer, Rebecca L., Kardos, Natalie L., Hedges, S. Blair·2001·Science

Abstract

The colonization of land by eukaryotes probably was facilitated by a partnership (symbiosis) between a photosynthesizing organism (phototroph) and a fungus. However, the time when colonization occurred remains speculative. The first fossil land plants and fungi appeared 480 to 460 million years ago (Ma), whereas molecular clock estimates suggest an earlier colonization of land, about 600 Ma. Our protein sequence analyses indicate that green algae and major lineages of fungi were present 1000 Ma and that land plants appeared by 700 Ma, possibly affecting Earth's atmosphere, climate, and evolution of animals in the Precambrian.

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Crossref · 10.1126/science.1061457

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32 of 32 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • The greatest discrepancy between age estimates without and with the clock assumption is observed for the Saccharomyces/Candida split, estimated at 168-308 (mean 235) Mya compared with 841 Mya.

    “The greatest discrepancy between age estimates without and with the clock assumption is observed for the Saccharomyces/Candida split, here estimated at 168–308 (mean 235) Mya (Fig. 1) compared with 841 Mya (45).”

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Authors
Heckman, D. S., Geiser, D. M., Eidell, B. R., Stauffer, R. L., Kardos, N. L., & Hedges, S. B.
Affiliations
Pennsylvania State University (US)
Corresponding author
Hedges, S. Blair
Venue
Science
Published
2001-08-10
Volume
293
Issue
5532
Pages
1129-1133
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W2046255935
Cited by
1,020
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 44 · 2018: 54 · 2017: 58 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 45 · 2013: 36 · 2012: 61
FWCI
15.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protist diversity and phylogeny
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Plant Diversity and Evolution
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
Keywords
land colonization, fungi, land plants, plant-fungal symbiosis, molecular clock, green algae, Precambrian, atmospheric oxygenation, protein divergence
MeSH terms
Chlorophyta, Rhodophyta, Biological Evolution, Fossils, Fungal Proteins, Fungi, Phylogeny, Plants, Symbiosis, Time, Databases, Factual, Sequence Alignment, Ecosystem, Sequence Analysis, Protein

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