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Updated: Jul 14, 2025

Lateral Root Inducible System in Arabidopsis and Maize

Lateral Root Inducible System in Arabidopsis and Maize

Published on: January 14, 2016

Root evolution: Evidence for convergent evolution of root meristem.

Meng Li¹, Shuang Wu¹

¹Haixia Institute of Science and Technology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China.

Current Biology : CB

|October 10, 2023

Summary

Plant roots evolved independently, and new research suggests lycophyte roots may have evolved convergently. This provides evidence for shared molecular mechanisms in root development across different plant lineages.

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Plant science
Developmental biology

Background:

Plant terrestrialization involved independent evolution of root systems.
Molecular mechanisms underlying root meristem regulation during independent evolution remain largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the evolutionary origins of root systems.
To provide evidence for the convergent evolution of lycophyte roots.

Main Methods:

Comparative genomics
Molecular phylogenetics
Developmental gene analysis

Main Results:

Two new reports offer significant evidence supporting the convergent evolution of lycophyte roots.
This suggests that similar molecular pathways may have been co-opted for root development in distinct plant lineages.

Conclusions:

The findings support the hypothesis of convergent evolution in lycophyte root development.
This deepens our understanding of the molecular basis for root system evolution in land plants.