The function of the aerenchyma in arborescent lycopsids: evidence of an unfamiliar metabolic strategy

Functional traits of fossil plants

A minuscule fraction of the Earth's paleobiological diversity is preserved in the geological record as fossils. What plant remnants have withstood taphonomic filtering, fragmentation, and alteration in their journey to become part of the fossil record provide unique information on how plants functioned in paleo-ecosystems through their traits. Plant traits are measurable morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical, or phenological characteristics that potentially affect their environment and fitness. Here, we review the rich literature of paleobotany, through the lens of contemporary trait-based ecology, to evaluate which well-established extant plant traits hold the greatest promise for application to fossils. In particular, we focus on fossil plant functional traits, those measurable properties of leaf, stem, reproductive, or whole plant fossils that offer insights into the functioning of the plant when alive. The limitations of a trait-based approach in paleobotany are considerable. However, in our critical assessment of over 30 extant traits we present an initial, semi-quantitative ranking of 26 paleo-functional traits based on taphonomic and methodological criteria on the potential of those traits to impact Earth system processes, and for that impact to be quantifiable. We demonstrate how valuable inferences on paleo-ecosystem processes (pollination biology, herbivory), past nutrient cycles, paleobiogeography, paleo-demography (life history), and Earth system history can be derived through the application of paleo-functional traits to fossil plants.

Evolution of an intermediate C4 photosynthesis in the non-foliar tissues of the Poaceae

Carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) in plants are abaptive features that have evolved to sustain plant growth in unfavorable environments, especially at low atmospheric carbon levels and high temperatures. Uptake of CO₂ and its storage in the aerenchyma tissues of Lycopsids and diurnal acidity fluctuation in aquatic plants during the Palaeozoic era (ca. 300 Ma.) would represent the earliest evolution of a CCM. The CCM parts of the dark reactions of photosynthesis have evolved many times, while the light reactions are conserved across plant lineages. A C₄ type CCM, leaf C₄ photosynthesis is evolved in the PACMAD clade of the Poaceae family. The evolution of C₄ photosynthesis from C₃ photosynthesis was an abaptation. Photosynthesis in reproductive tissues of sorghum and maize (PACMAD clade) has been shown to be of a weaker C₄ type (high CO₂ compensation point, low carbon isotope discrimination, and lack of Rubisco compartmentalization, when compared to the normal C₄ types) than that in the leaves (normal C₄ type). However, this does not fit well with the character polarity concept from an evolutionary perspective. In a recent model proposed for CCM evolution, the development of a rudimentary CCM prior to the evolution of a more efficient CCM (features contrasting to a weaker C₄ type, leading to greater biomass production rate) has been suggested. An intermediate crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) type of CCM (rudimentary) was reported in the genera, Brassia, Coryanthes, Eriopsis, Peristeria, of the orchids (well-known group of plants that display the CAM pathway). Similarly, we propose here the evolution of a rudimentary CCM (C₄-like type pathway) in the non-foliar tissues of the Poaceae, prior to the evolution of the C₄ pathway as identified in the leaves of the C₄ species of the PACMAD clade.

CO2 starvation experiments provide support for the carbon-limited hypothesis on the evolution of CAM-like behaviour in Isoëtes

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is an adaptation to increase water use efficiency in dry environments. Similar biochemical patterns occur in the aquatic lycophyte genus Isoëtes. It has long been assumed and accepted that CAM-like behaviour in these aquatic plants is an adaptation to low daytime carbon levels in aquatic ecosystems, but this has never been directly tested.

METHODS

To test this hypothesis, populations of Isoëtes engelmannii and I. tuckermanii were grown in climate-controlled chambers and starved of atmospheric CO2 during the day while pH was measured for 24 h.

KEY RESULTS

We demonstrate that terrestrial plants exposed to low atmospheric CO2 display diel acidity cycles similar to those in both xerophytic CAM plants and submerged Isoëtes.

CONCLUSIONS

Daytime CO2 starvation induces CAM-like nocturnal acid accumulation in terrestrial Isoëtes, substantiating the hypothesis that carbon starvation is a selective pressure for this physiological behaviour.

Evolution and ecology of plant architecture: integrating insights from the fossil record, extant morphology, developmental genetics and phylogenies

BACKGROUND

In contrast to most animals, plants have an indeterminate body plan, which allows them to add new body parts during their lifetime. A plant's realized modular construction is the result of exogenous constraints and endogenous processes. This review focuses on endogenous processes that shape plant architectures and their evolution.

SCOPE

The phylogenetic distribution of plant growth forms across the phylogeny implies that body architectures have originated and been lost repeatedly, being shaped by a limited set of genetic pathways. We (1) synthesize concepts of plant architecture, so far captured in 23 models; (2) extend them to the fossil record; (3) summarize what is known about their developmental genetics; (4) use a phylogenetic approach in several groups to infer how plant architecture has changed and by which intermediate steps; and (5) discuss which macroecological factors may constrain the geographic and ecological distribution of plant architectures.

CONCLUSIONS

Dichotomously branching Paleozoic plants already encompassed a considerable diversity of growth forms, here captured in 12 new architectural models. Plotting the frequency of branching types through time based on an analysis of 58 927 land plant fossils revealed a decrease in dichotomous branching throughout the Devonian and Carboniferous, mirrored by an increase in other branching types including axillary branching. We suggest that the evolution of seed plant megaphyllous leaves enabling axillary branching contributed to the demise of dichotomous architectures. The developmental-genetic bases for key architectural traits underlying sympodial vs. monopodial branching, rhythmic vs. continuous growth, and axillary branching and its localization are becoming well understood, while the molecular basis of dichotomous branching and plagiotropy remains elusive. Three phylogenetic case studies of architecture evolution in conifers, Aloe and monocaulous arborescent vascular plants reveal relationships between architectural models and show that some are labile in given groups, whereas others are widely conserved, apparently shaped by ecological factors, such as intercepted sunlight, temperature, humidity and seasonality.

Dynamic Carboniferous tropical forests: new views of plant function and potential for physiological forcing of climate

Contents 1333 I. 1334 II. 1335 III. 1339 IV. 1344 V. 1347 VI. 1347 1348 1348 References 1348 SUMMARY: The Carboniferous, the time of Earth's penultimate icehouse and widespread coal formation, was dominated by extinct lineages of early-diverging vascular plants. Studies of nearest living relatives of key Carboniferous plants suggest that their physiologies and growth forms differed substantially from most types of modern vegetation, particularly forests. It remains a matter of debate precisely how differently and to what degree these long-extinct plants influenced the environment. Integrating biophysical analysis of stomatal and vascular conductivity with geochemical analysis of fossilized tissues and process-based ecosystem-scale modeling yields a dynamic and unique perspective on these paleoforests. This integrated approach indicates that key Carboniferous plants were capable of growth and transpiration rates that approach values found in extant crown-group angiosperms, differing greatly from comparatively modest rates found in their closest living relatives. Ecosystem modeling suggests that divergent stomatal conductance, leaf sizes and stem life span between dominant clades would have shifted the balance of soil-atmosphere water fluxes, and thus surface runoff flux, during repeated, climate-driven, vegetation turnovers. This synthesis highlights the importance of 'whole plant' physiological reconstruction of extinct plants and the potential of vascular plants to have influenced the Earth system hundreds of millions of years ago through vegetation-climate feedbacks.

Ecological imperatives for aquatic CO2-concentrating mechanisms

In aquatic environments, the concentration of inorganic carbon is spatially and temporally variable and CO2 can be substantially oversaturated or depleted. Depletion of CO2 plus low rates of diffusion cause inorganic carbon to be more limiting in aquatic than terrestrial environments, and the frequency of species with a CO2-concentrating mechanism (CCM), and their contribution to productivity, is correspondingly greater. Aquatic photoautotrophs may have biochemical or biophysical CCMs and exploit CO2 from the sediment or the atmosphere. Though partly constrained by phylogeny, CCM activity is related to environmental conditions. CCMs are absent or down-regulated when their increased energy costs, lower CO2 affinity, or altered mineral requirements outweigh their benefits. Aquatic CCMs are most widespread in environments with low CO2, high HCO3-, high pH, and high light. Freshwater species are generally less effective at inorganic carbon removal than marine species, but have a greater range of ability to remove carbon, matching the environmental variability in carbon availability. The diversity of CCMs in seagrasses and marine phytoplankton, and detailed mechanistic studies on larger aquatic photoautotrophs are understudied. Strengthening the links between ecology and CCMs will increase our understanding of the mechanisms underlying ecological success and will place mechanistic studies in a clearer ecological context.

Evolutionary conservatism explains increasing relatedness of plant communities along a flooding gradient

Abiotic filters have been found either to increase or reduce evolutionary relatedness in plant communities, making it difficult to generalize responses of this major feature of biodiversity to future environmental change. Here, we hypothesized that the responses of phylogenetic structure to environmental change ultimately depend on how species have evolved traits for tolerating the resulting abiotic changes. Working within ephemeral wetlands, we tested whether species were increasingly related as flooding duration intensified. We also identified the mechanisms underlying increased relatedness by measuring root aerenchyma volume (RAV), a trait which promotes waterlogging tolerance. We found that species-specific responses to flooding explained most of the variation in occurrence for 63 vascular plant species across 5170 plots. For a subset of 22 species, we attributed these responses to variation in RAV. Large RAV specifically increased occurrence when flooding lasted for longer time periods, because large RAV reduced above-ground biomass loss. As large RAV was evolutionarily conserved within obligate wetland species, communities were more phylogenetically related as flooding increased. Our study shows how reconstructing the evolutionary history of traits that influence the responses of species to environmental change can help to predict future patterns in phylogenetic structure.

Life at the boundary: photosynthesis at the soil-fluid interface. A synthesis focusing on mosses

Mosses are among the earliest branching embryophytes and probably originated not later than the early Ordovician when atmospheric CO2 was higher and O2 was lower than today. The C3 biochemistry and physiology of their photosynthesis suggests, by analogy with tracheophytes, that growth of extant bryophytes in high CO2 approximating Ordovician values would increase the growth rate. This occurs for many mosses, including Physcomitrella patens in suspension culture, although recently published transcriptomic data on this species at high CO2 and present-day CO2 show down-regulation of the transcription of several genes related to photosynthesis. It would be useful if transcriptomic (and proteomic) data comparing growth conditions are linked to measurements of growth and physiology on the same, or parallel, cultures. Mosses (like later-originating embryophytes) have been subject to changes in bulk atmospheric CO2 and O2 throughout their existence, with evidence, albeit limited, for positive selection of moss Rubisco. Extant mosses are subject to a large range of CO2 and O2 concentrations in their immediate environments, especially aquatic mosses, and mosses are particularly influenced by CO2 generated by, and O2 consumed by, soil chemoorganotrophy from organic C produced by tracheophytes (if present) and bryophytes.

Gigantism and Its Implications for the History of Life

Gigantism-very large body size-is an ecologically important trait associated with competitive superiority. Although it has been studied in particular cases, the general conditions for the evolution and maintenance of gigantism remain obscure. I compiled sizes and dates for the largest species in 3 terrestrial and 7 marine trophic and habitat categories of animals from throughout the Phanerozoic. The largest species (global giants) in all categories are of post-Paleozoic age. Gigantism at this level appeared tens to hundreds of millions of years after mass extinctions and long after the origins of clades in which it evolved. Marine gigantism correlates with high planktic or seafloor productivity, but on land the correspondence between productivity and gigantism is weak at best. All global giants are aerobically active animals, not gentle giants with low metabolic demands. Oxygen concentration in the atmosphere correlates with gigantism in the Paleozoic but not thereafter, likely because of the elaboration of efficient gas-exchange systems in clades containing giants. Although temperature and habitat size are important in the evolution of very large size in some cases, the most important (and rare) enabling circumstance is a highly developed ecological infrastructure in which essential resources are abundant and effectively recycled and reused, permitting activity levels to increase and setting the stage for gigantic animals to evolve. Gigantism as a hallmark of competitive superiority appears to have lost its luster on land after the Mesozoic in favor of alternative means of achieving dominance, especially including social organization and coordinated food-gathering.

Paleophysiology: From Fossils to the Future

Future environments may resemble conditions that have not existed for millions of years. To assess the adaptive options available to organisms evolving under such circumstances, it is instructive to probe paleophysiology, the ways in which ancient life coped with its physical and chemical surroundings. To do this, we need reliable proxies that are based on fundamental principles, quantitatively verified in living species, and observable in fossil remains. Insights have already come from vertebrates and plants, and others will likely emerge for marine animals if promising proxies are validated. Many questions remain about the circumstances for the evolution of environmental tolerances, metabolic rates, biomineralization, and physiological responses to interacting species, and about how living organisms will perform under exceptional conditions.

Growth habit of the late Paleozoic rhizomorphic tree-lycopsid family Diaphorodendraceae: phylogenetic, evolutionary, and paleoecological significance

PREMISE OF THE STUDY

Rhizomorphic lycopsids evolved the tree habit independently of all other land plants. Newly discovered specimens allow radical revision of our understanding of the growth architectures of the extinct Paleozoic sister-genera Synchysidendron and Diaphorodendron.

METHODS

Detailed descriptions of six remarkable adpression specimens from the Pennsylvanian of the USA and three casts from the late Mississippian of Scotland are used to revise and reanalyze a previously published morphological cladistic matrix and to reinterpret their remarkable growth forms.

KEY RESULTS

Contrary to previous assertions, Synchysidendron resembled Diaphorodendron in having a distinct and relatively complex growth habit that emphasized serially homologous, closely spaced, deciduous lateral branches at the expense of reduced monocarpic crown branches. Lateral branches originated through several strongly anisotomous dichotomies before producing during extended periods large numbers of Achlamydocarpon strobili. The comparatively large diameter of abscission scars remaining on the main trunk and the emergence of branches above the horizontal plane suggest that the lateral branch systems were robust. Lateral branches were borne in two opposite rows on the main trunk and continued upward into an isotomously branched, determinate crown; their striking distichous arrangement caused preferred orientation of fallen trunks on bedding planes.

CONCLUSIONS

This discovery identifies the plagiotropic growth habit, dominated by serial lateral branches, as ubiquitous in the Diaphorodendraceae and also as unequivocally primitive within Isoetales s.l., a conclusion supported by both the revised morphological cladistic analysis and relative first appearances of taxa in the fossil record. Previously assumed complete homology between crown branching in Lepidodendraceae and that of all earlier-divergent genera requires reassessment. Saltational phenotypic transitions via modification of key developmental switches remains the most credible explanation for architectural evolution in the group. The resulting architecture allowed Diaphorodendraceae to co-dominate disturbed, clastic, equatorial wetlands from the Asbian to the Early Permian.

Did early land plants use carbon-concentrating mechanisms?

Carbon-concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) in plants involve actively increasing CO2 concentrations near ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (RuBisCO). The assumption has been that terrestrial plants did not evolve CCMs for well over 300 million years, yet most marine plants probably evolved CCMs at the time when oxygenic photosynthesis first occurred in the Paleozoic. One primary reason for this assumption is that analysis of genetic mutations for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPc; an enzyme required for C4 and CAM photosynthesis) indicate a molecular age of no more than 65 Ma. Could the evolutionary response of both RuBisCO and PEPc to varying concentrations of atmospheric CO2 and O2 over geological time have obscured the real time when land plants first used PEPc during photosynthesis?