Affiliation: | a Dept of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA b Albrecht-von-Haller-Institut für Pflanzenwissenschaften, Abteilung Systematische Botanik, Georg-August-Universität, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany c Laboratories of Analytical Biology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA d Dept of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA |
Abstract: | Recent comparative DNA-sequencing studies of chloroplast, mitochondrial and ribosomal genes have produced an evolutionary tree relating the diversity of green-plant lineages. By coupling this phylogenetic framework to the explosion of information on genome content, plant-genomic efforts can and should be extended beyond angiosperm crop and model systems. Including plant species representative of other crucial evolutionary nodes would produce the comparative information necessary to understand fully the organization, function and evolution of plant genomes. The simultaneous development of genomic tools for green algae, bryophytes, ‘seed-free’ vascular plants and gymnosperms should provide insights into the bases of the complex morphological, physiological, reproductive and biochemical innovations that have characterized the successful transition of green plants to land. |