Reply to Žárský and Eliáš

The more we learn about the algal relatives of embryophytes (land plants), the more complex and fascinating the evolution of key streptophyte traits becomes. With the sequencing of the Klebsormidium nitens genome, a range of molecular traits shared with land plants were found¹ - despite ca. 800 million years of divergence^2,3. A few years ago, Streptofilum was described, superficially resembling members of Klebsormidiophyceae but showing divergence in traits⁴. In our recent study², we reconstructed a phylogenomic backbone for Klebsormidiophyceae, and Streptofilum was nested within, although we pointed out the difficulties in placing Streptofilum. Now, Žárský and Eliáš⁵ have commented on this placement, building on a different approach to analyze the data.