School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Bristol BS8 1TH, UK.
Trends Plant Sci. 2018 Oct;23(10):933-945. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2018.07.006. Epub 2018 Aug 16.
Whole-genome duplication (WGD) is characteristic of almost all fundamental lineages of land plants. Unfortunately, the timings of WGD events are loosely constrained and hypotheses of evolutionary consequence are poorly formulated, making them difficult to test. Using examples from across the plant kingdom, we show that estimates of timing can be improved through the application of molecular clock methodology to multigene datasets. Further, we show that phenotypic change can be quantified in morphospaces and that relative phenotypic disparity can be compared in the light of WGD. Together, these approaches facilitate tests of hypotheses on the role of WGD in plant evolution, underscoring the potential of plants as a model system for investigating the role WGD in macroevolution.
全基因组复制（WGD）是几乎所有陆地植物基本谱系的特征。不幸的是，WGD 事件的时间约束较为宽松，并且进化后果的假说也没有很好地制定，这使得它们难以验证。我们通过将分子钟方法应用于多基因数据集，从整个植物界的例子中表明，可以通过应用分子钟方法来改善对时间的估计。此外，我们还表明，可以在形态空间中量化表型变化，并且可以根据 WGD 来比较相对表型差异。总之，这些方法有助于检验 WGD 在植物进化中的作用的假说，强调了植物作为研究 WGD 在宏观进化中作用的模型系统的潜力。
