The stepwise and independent origin of plant roots: from fossils to transcription factors

Biosciences Seminar Series

Speaker: Dr Sandy Hetherington, University of Oxford

The evolution of plant roots allowed plants to enormously increase their rooting function of anchorage combined with nutrient uptake and transport – charting the way for the diversification of vascular plants into new and previously unoccupied areas of the terrestrial surface. Despite the evolution of roots being central to the success of land plants their origin is still largely unknown. In the talk I will describe how recent advances made with both fossil plants and from comparative genomic and transcriptomic studies are shedding new light on the origin of roots. Fossil rooting systems are helping to unravel the gradual character evolution of roots. These fossils demonstrate that the origins of roots is far more complex than may be thought based solely on studies of living species. Alongside fossil studies, evidence from comparative genomics and transcriptomics is shedding light on the assembly of the root genetic toolkit. A toolkit that has its origin well before plants colonised the land. The study of rooting systems highlights the need for more interdisciplinary studies combining disparate lines of evidence to understand the evolution of complex plant traits.

Host: Prof George Bassel