Infer_Anth - Inferring missing links in the origin of angiosperms from their ancestralized developmental regulators
The origin of the angiosperms, or flowering plants, is one of the great unsolved mysteries of evolutionary biology. We propose here a radically new approach, based on the presence of a whole genome duplication event in the angiosperm stem-lineage, to characterize the extinct gymnosperm group from which the angiosperms emerged. We will use molecular evolutionary analyses and ancestral sequence reconstruction followed by a range of in-vitro and in-vivo functional studies to elucidate the evolutionary history of genes that were important for the origin of several specific characters of flowering plants. The characters to be studied include the perianth, bisexual axis, carpel, outer ovule integument and rapid pollen-tube growth rate. The procedures to be used will indicate the likely order-of-origin of the angiosperm characters of interest, and this information will enable us to generate a "photo-fit portrait” of the extinct gymnosperm group from which the angiosperms likely arose. In the final phase of our project, we will reappraise the mid-Jurassic to early Cretaceous paleobotanical literature to determine whether any known fossil gymnosperm matches the profile determined from our molecular studies as the likely proximal ancestor of the angiosperms. We anticipate that our approach could in future be used to elucidate the emergence of numerous further large clades both in the green-plant clade and other major eukaryotic groups.
Charlie Scutt (RDP, ENS Lyon) (PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR); Bastien Bousseau (LBBE, CNRS/ULyon1); Richard Bateman (RBG Kew); Paula Rudall (RBG Kew); Pierre Chambrier (RDP, ENS Lyon); Lucie Bastin-Heline (RDP, ENS Lyon).