Leslie Andrew B, Mander Luke
Earth and Planetary Sciences, Stanford University, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Building 320, Room 118, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK.
New Phytol. 2025 Feb;245(4):1733-1745. doi: 10.1111/nph.20302. Epub 2024 Nov 29.
Whole genome duplication (WGD) likely plays an important role in plant macroevolution, and has been implicated in diversification rate shifts, structural innovations, and increased disparity. But the general effects of WGD are challenging to evaluate, in part due to the difficulty of directly comparing morphological patterns across disparate clades. We explored relationships between WGD and the evolution of reproductive complexity across vascular plants using a metric based on the number of reproductive part types. We used multiple regression models to evaluate the relative importance of inferred WGD events, genome size, and a suite of additional variables relating to growth habit and reproductive biology in explaining part type complexity. WGD was a consistent predictor of reproductive complexity only among angiosperms. Across vascular plants generally, reproductive biology, clade identity, and the presence of bisexual strobili (those that produce microsporangiate and megasporangiate organs) were better predictors of complexity. Angiosperms are unique among vascular plants in combining frequent polyploidy with high-reproductive complexity. Whether WGD is mechanistically linked to floral complexity is unclear, but we suggest widespread polyploidy and increased complexity were ultimately facilitated by the evolution of herbaceous growth habits in early angiosperms.
全基因组复制（WGD）可能在植物宏观进化中发挥重要作用，并且与多样化速率变化、结构创新以及差异增加有关。但是，WGD的总体影响难以评估，部分原因是难以直接比较不同进化枝之间的形态模式。我们使用基于生殖部分类型数量的指标，探讨了WGD与维管植物生殖复杂性进化之间的关系。我们使用多元回归模型来评估推断的WGD事件、基因组大小以及一系列与生长习性和生殖生物学相关的其他变量在解释部分类型复杂性方面的相对重要性。仅在被子植物中，WGD是生殖复杂性的一致预测指标。总体而言，在维管植物中，生殖生物学、进化枝身份以及两性球花（产生小孢子囊和大孢子囊器官的球花）的存在是复杂性的更好预测指标。被子植物在维管植物中独树一帜，它将频繁的多倍体与高生殖复杂性结合在一起。WGD是否在机制上与花的复杂性相关尚不清楚，但我们认为，早期被子植物草本生长习性的进化最终促进了广泛的多倍体现象和复杂性的增加。
