The increasing number of sequenced genomes covering different lineages of streptophytes has broadened the horizon of plant research, previously limited to a few model organisms. The plant community is now using an evo-devo approach at an unprecedented scale to address old questions and identify conserved mechanisms, (molecular) synapomorphies, and lineage-specific variations across streptophytes. This approach is particularly interesting when studying specific plant traits evolved to cope with the environment since they might help us understand the mechanisms that aided plant terrestrialization. This incipient field of plant research promises to be crucial for a holistic understanding of the evolution of the environmental response of plants and identify the universal role of some molecular players and their associated gene-regulatory networks.
Land plants contain a conserved set of elements required to control their development and physiological responses to environmental stimuli. The identification of these core genes coupled with comparative and functional genomics is a central step towards understanding how these signaling pathways evolved. Moreover, the discovery of the molecular innovations specific to each plant lineage will be instrumental to understand the molecular basis of the diverse adaptive strategies in plants. Beyond model plant species, evo-devo studies employ a multidisciplinary approach combining other disciplines such as systems biology and metabolomics to identify the underlying molecular and biochemical mechanisms controlling key evolutionary traits. The multidisciplinary approach might sound a bit scary for our potential authors. We could say that the challenge of understanding the conservation of environmental responses across 700 million years of Streptophytes evolution requires the collaborative effort of the plant evo-devo community. Therefore, efforts from individual labs working on different genes/traits/plant species will contribute to a better understanding of plant evolution.
We invite researchers of the plant evo-devo field to contribute with their discoveries understanding the evolution of the plant environmental responses to this collection, including multi-disciplinary approaches to assess the evolution of the key molecular players and their regulatory networks. Each article should take an evolutionary perspective addressed in the discussion section. Studies can use or combine approaches such as molecular genetics, comparative physiology (including comparative transcriptomics and metabolomics), functional phylogenomics on model and non-model plants. We expect submission of original research, methods, perspectives, and thought-provoking opinions.
This Research Topic aims to collect articles addressing evo-devo studies on the environmental response of plants that focus on but are not limited to the following aspects:
• Abiotic stress responses such as desiccation, salinity, high irradiance, high/low temperatures.
• Biotic responses to pests and pathogens.
• Developmental studies reporting alterations to environmental stress.
• Genome-wide or gene-focused experimental approaches.
• Specific and non-specific lineage trait evolution.
• Theoretical work focused on concepts (e.g., exaptation and co-option) in early plant evolution.
The increasing number of sequenced genomes covering different lineages of streptophytes has broadened the horizon of plant research, previously limited to a few model organisms. The plant community is now using an evo-devo approach at an unprecedented scale to address old questions and identify conserved mechanisms, (molecular) synapomorphies, and lineage-specific variations across streptophytes. This approach is particularly interesting when studying specific plant traits evolved to cope with the environment since they might help us understand the mechanisms that aided plant terrestrialization. This incipient field of plant research promises to be crucial for a holistic understanding of the evolution of the environmental response of plants and identify the universal role of some molecular players and their associated gene-regulatory networks.
Land plants contain a conserved set of elements required to control their development and physiological responses to environmental stimuli. The identification of these core genes coupled with comparative and functional genomics is a central step towards understanding how these signaling pathways evolved. Moreover, the discovery of the molecular innovations specific to each plant lineage will be instrumental to understand the molecular basis of the diverse adaptive strategies in plants. Beyond model plant species, evo-devo studies employ a multidisciplinary approach combining other disciplines such as systems biology and metabolomics to identify the underlying molecular and biochemical mechanisms controlling key evolutionary traits. The multidisciplinary approach might sound a bit scary for our potential authors. We could say that the challenge of understanding the conservation of environmental responses across 700 million years of Streptophytes evolution requires the collaborative effort of the plant evo-devo community. Therefore, efforts from individual labs working on different genes/traits/plant species will contribute to a better understanding of plant evolution.
We invite researchers of the plant evo-devo field to contribute with their discoveries understanding the evolution of the plant environmental responses to this collection, including multi-disciplinary approaches to assess the evolution of the key molecular players and their regulatory networks. Each article should take an evolutionary perspective addressed in the discussion section. Studies can use or combine approaches such as molecular genetics, comparative physiology (including comparative transcriptomics and metabolomics), functional phylogenomics on model and non-model plants. We expect submission of original research, methods, perspectives, and thought-provoking opinions.
This Research Topic aims to collect articles addressing evo-devo studies on the environmental response of plants that focus on but are not limited to the following aspects:
• Abiotic stress responses such as desiccation, salinity, high irradiance, high/low temperatures.
• Biotic responses to pests and pathogens.
• Developmental studies reporting alterations to environmental stress.
• Genome-wide or gene-focused experimental approaches.
• Specific and non-specific lineage trait evolution.
• Theoretical work focused on concepts (e.g., exaptation and co-option) in early plant evolution.
