Divergence
Land plants evolved from a group of freshwater green algae, perhaps as early as 850 mya, but algae-like plants might have evolved as early as 1 billion years ago. The closest … See more

Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis
There is no evidence that early land plants of the Silurian and early Devonian had roots, although fossil evidence of rhizoids occurs for several species, such as Horneophyton. The earliest land plants did not have vascular … See more

The C4 metabolic pathway is a valuable recent evolutionary innovation in plants, involving a complex set of adaptive changes to See more

Transcription factors and transcriptional regulatory networks play key roles in plant development and stress responses, as well as their … See more

All multicellular plants have a life cycle comprising two generations or phases. The gametophyte phase has a single set of chromosomes … See more

Leaves
Leaves are the primary photosynthetic organs of a modern plant. The origin of leaves was almost certainly triggered by falling concentrations of atmospheric CO2 during the Devonian period, increasing the efficiency with … See more

Secondary metabolites are essentially low molecular weight compounds, sometimes having complex structures, that are not essential for the … See more