Abstract
Plants are a hugely diverse group of organisms, including both land plants and aquatic algae, which inhabit a wide range of ecological niches across the planet. All plants arose from a single common ancestor and underwent a diversification that has shaped the earth’s atmosphere and climate. One of the most important evolutionary transitions in the earth’s history was the transition of plants to land. To understand how plants have evolved to possess such diversity of form, function and habitat requires in-depth knowledge and comparison of plant development and physiology from a wide range of representative species. There are several key “traditional” model organisms that have helped us understand plant evolution to date. However, there are significant gaps in our knowledge due to under-representation in some parts of the green phylogenetic tree. The time is right to start filling these gaps using new and “up-and-coming” green model organisms.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Encyclopaedia of Life Sciences |
Publisher | Wiley |
Publication status | Accepted/In press - 18 Mar 2016 |