Evolution and palaeophysiology of the vascular system and other means of long-distance transport

Raven, John A.

doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0497

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 150 publications

(283 reference statements)

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“…This brief overview introduces the Rhynie flora. This is an active research area, and Rhynie plant fossils are providing key new insights into the evolution of plants: their life cycle (Kenrick, 2018), physiology (Hetherington & Dolan, 2018a;Kerp, 2018;Raven, 2018), development (Kofuji et al 2018) and interactions (Krings et al 2018).…”

Section: A Floramentioning

confidence: 99%

An introduction to the Rhynie chert

Garwood

Oliver²,

Spencer

2019

Geol. Mag.

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The terrestrialization of life has profoundly affected the biosphere, geosphere and atmosphere, and the Geological Magazine has published key works charting the development of our understanding of this process. Integral to this understanding – and featuring in one of the Geological Magazine publications – is the Devonian Rhynie chert Konservat-Lagerstätte located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Here we provide a review of the work on this important early terrestrial deposit to date. We begin by highlighting contributions of note in the Geological Magazine improving understanding of terrestrialization and Palaeozoic terrestrial ecosystems. We then introduce the Rhynie chert. The review highlights its geological setting: the Caledonian context of the Rhynie Basin and its nature at the time of deposition of the cherts which host its famous fossils. There follows an introduction to the development of the half-graben in which the cherts and host sediments were deposited, the palaeoenvironment this represented and the taphonomy of the fossils themselves. We subsequently provide an overview of the mineralization and geochemistry of the deposit, and then the fossils found within the Rhynie chert. These include: six plant genera, which continue to provide significant insights into the evolution of life on land; a range of different fungi, with recent work starting to probe plant–fungus interactions; lichens, amoebae and a range of unicellular eukaryotes and prokaryotes (algae and cyanobacteria); and finally a range of both aquatic and terrestrial arthropods. Through continued study coupled with methodological advances, Rhynie fossils will continue to provide unique insights into early life on land.

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Section: A Floramentioning

confidence: 99%

An introduction to the Rhynie chert

Garwood

Oliver²,

Spencer

2019

Geol. Mag.

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“…The wood of various taxa of the Carboniferous showed hydraulic conductivity ranges similar to that of modern seed plants (Wilson et al 2008;Wilson and Knoll 2010;Wilson et al 2017). Various specific methodologies are used to reconstruct xylem hydraulic conductivity for entire cross-sections or single conduits (Strullu-Derrien et al 2014;Tanrattana et al 2019), and the evaluation of water transport capacity is of high palaeoecophysiological importance, because the total hydraulic conductivity of the xylem is a crucial element for photosynthesis and productivity (Raven 2017). The reason for this connection is clear: high photosynthesis rates require high rates of gas exchange (meaning high stomatal conductance) and therefore high transpiration rates.…”

Section: Flow In Micro-tubesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In combination with ecophysiology, functional morphology allows for evaluating productivity and viability of plants under past climate conditions. An example here are the effects of environmental conditions of the geological past, such as atmospheric composition, on the ecophysiology of fossil plants which need to be studied by theoretical approaches (DiMichele and Gastaldo 2008;Raven and Edwards 2014;Raven 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From tree to architecture: how functional morphology of arborescence connects plant biology, evolution and physics

Roth‐Nebelsick

Miranda

Ebner

et al. 2021

Palaeobio Palaeoenv

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Trees are the fundamental element of forest ecosystems, made possible by their mechanical qualities and their highly sophisticated conductive tissues. The evolution of trees, and thereby the evolution of forests, were ecologically transformative and affected climate and biogeochemical cycles fundamentally. Trees also offer a substantial amount of ecological niches for other organisms, such as epiphytes, creating a vast amount of habitats. During land plant evolution, a variety of different tree constructions evolved and their constructional principles are a subject of ongoing research. Understanding the “natural construction” of trees benefits strongly from methods and approaches from physics and engineering. Plant water transport is a good example for the ongoing demand for interdisciplinary efforts to unravel form-function relationships on vastly differing scales. Identification of the unique mechanism of water long-distance transport requires a solid basis of interfacial physics and thermodynamics. Studying tree functions by using theoretical approaches is, however, not a one-sided affair: The complex interrelationships between traits, functionality, trade-offs and phylogeny inspire engineers, physicists and architects until today.

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“…Synthesis of lignin is initiated by the conversion of phenylalanine to cinnamate, catalysed by the enzyme phenylalanine‐ammonia‐lyase, and continued by a series of methylations and hydroxylations which result in the formation of the various phenylpropanoid precursors of the complex lignin polymers (Weng & Chapple, ). These are elaborated in vascular plants into the supporting and water‐conducting tissue, xylem (Raven, , ). Lewis () speculated, in relation to the origin of land plants, that boron was intimately involved with this synthesis and differentiation, a topic also briefly alluded to by Lovatt (), Josten & Kutschera () and Kutschera & Niklas ().…”

Section: Evidence and Speculationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Boron: the essential element for vascular plants that never was

Lewis

2018

New Phytologist

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Summary Although a requirement for boron is a well‐established feature of vascular plants, its designation, for almost a century, as essential is challenged and, instead, the proposal is made that it has never been so as conventionally defined. This is because an alternative interpretation of published evidence negates its compliance with one of the criteria for essentiality, that its effects are direct. The alternative, here postulated, is that boron is, and always has been, potentially toxic, a feature which, for normal growth, development and reproduction, needed to be nullified. This was enabled by exploitation of boron's ability to be chemically bound to compounds with cis‐hydroxyl groups. Although particular cell wall carbohydrate polymers, glycoproteins and membrane glycolipids are among candidates for this role, it is here proposed that soluble phenolic metabolites of, or related to, the components of the pathway of lignin biosynthesis, themselves potentially toxic, are primarily used by vascular plants. When metabolic circumstances allow these phenolics to accumulate endogenously in the cytoplasm, their own inherent toxicity is also alleviated, partially at least, by formation of complexes with boron. This chemical reciprocity, enhanced by physical sequestration of the complexes in vacuoles and/or apoplast, thus achieves, in a flexible but indirect manner, a minimization of the inherent toxicities of both boron and relevant phenolics. In these ways, the multifarious outcomes of impairments, natural or experimental, to this interplay are responsible for the lack of consensus to explain the diverse effects observed in the many searches for boron's primary metabolic role, here considered to be nonexistent. In particular, since a toxic element cannot have ‘deficiency symptoms’, those previously so‐called are postulated to be largely due to the expressed toxicity of phenylpropanoids. A principal requirement for the otherwise toxic boron is to nullify, by means of its indirect chemical and physical sequestration, such expression. In these ways, it is therefore neither an essential nor a beneficial element as currently strictly defined.

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Evolution and palaeophysiology of the vascular system and other means of long-distance transport

Cited by 16 publications

References 150 publications

An introduction to the Rhynie chert

An introduction to the Rhynie chert

From tree to architecture: how functional morphology of arborescence connects plant biology, evolution and physics

Boron: the essential element for vascular plants that never was

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