The Closest Living Relatives of Land Plants
Abstract
The embryophytes (land plants) have long been thought to be related to the green algal group Charophyta, though the nature of this relationship and the origin of the land plants have remained unresolved. A four-gene phylogenetic analysis was conducted to investigate these relationships. This analysis supports the hypothesis that the land plants are placed phylogenetically within the Charophyta, identifies the Charales (stoneworts) as the closest living relatives of plants, and shows the Coleochaetales as sister to this Charales/land plant assemblage. The results also support the unicellular flagellate Mesostigma as the earliest branch of the charophyte lineage. These findings provide insight into the nature of the ancestor of plants, and have broad implications for understanding the transition from aquatic green algae to terrestrial plants.
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The prasinophyte Mesostigma branched basal to land plants but above Chlorella and Nephroselmis in all analyses, in contrast to the position inferred previously by using 53 genes and fewer outgroups, but compatible with other recent findings.
“The prasinophyte Mesostigma branched basal to land plants but above Chlorella and Nephroselmis in all analyses, in contrast to the position inferred previously by using 53 genes and fewer outgroups (32), but compatible with other recent findings (56).”
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- Authors
- Karol, K. G., McCourt, R. M., Cimino, M. T., & Delwiche, C. F.
- Affiliations
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- Department of Botany, Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA.
- Corresponding author
- Karol, Kenneth G.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2001-12-14
- Volume
- 294
- Issue
- 5550
- Pages
- 2351-2353
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2043114724
- Cited by
- 561
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 40 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 33
- FWCI
- 10.47
- 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
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Plant Ecology and Taxonomy Studies
- Keywords
- land plant origin, land plants, charophytes, Charales, green algae, plant evolution, phylogenetic relationships
- MeSH terms
- Chlorophyta, Bayes Theorem, Biological Evolution, Phylogeny, Plant Proteins, Plants, Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase, Likelihood Functions, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Genes, Plant, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Plant Physiological Phenomena, DNA, Plant, Genes, rRNA, Mitochondrial Proteins, ATP Synthetase Complexes
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