LEE, JUNGHO1,2,3* and J.R. MANHART1. 1Biology Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA; 2Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zurich, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland; 3Biology Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. - Transition from aquatic algae to land plants - phylogenomic evidence.
We have characterised the chloroplast genomes of green plants (an
ulvophyte, a prasinophyte, charophyte lineages, and embryophyte
lineages), and we found that known embryophyte unique operons and
introns originated not from early embryophytes but from a charophyte
ancestor (The chloroplast genomic maps of Coleochaete and
Spirogyra will be presented). In a phylogeny produced from the
evolution of operons, genes, and introns, basal charophytes do not
contain introns found in the more derived charophytes, and the most
derived charophytes and all embryophytes are defined by the presence
of clpP and 3’ rps12 operons containing trans-splicing rps12. We
discuss here the likely charophyte sister to embryophytes and the
Antithetic hypothesis of embryophyte origin.
Key words: charophytes, Coleochaete, intron, operon, Phylogenomics, rps12