Evolutionary development of the plant and spore wall

Area of Science:

• Plant evolutionary biology
• Molecular genetics

Background:

• Successful colonization of land by plants required innovations like durable spore/pollen walls to survive harsh terrestrial conditions.
• Spores of lower plants and pollen of higher seed plants are homologous structures.
• Molecular genetics of pollen wall development in angiosperms are well-studied, but less is known for basal plant spore walls.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review spore/pollen wall development literature.
• To identify candidate genes for spore wall development in basal plants by comparing with angiosperm pollen wall genes.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of spore/pollen wall development.
• Bioinformatic analysis comparing gene presence in angiosperms, moss, and lycopsids.
• Suggests future high-throughput sequencing and gene manipulation experiments.

Main Results:

• Genes involved in angiosperm pollen wall development are also found in moss and lycopsids.
• This suggests conserved molecular mechanisms for spore/pollen wall development across plant lineages.

Conclusions:

• High-throughput sequencing in lower plants can identify spore wall development genes.
• Gene knock-out and swap experiments in model species like Physcomitrella patens and Arabidopsis can validate gene function.