Lectures 16-24 Flashcards

1
Q

What are the chlorophyta?

A

the green algae

- start of terrestrial green line

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Why do we know land plants are monophyletic?

A

genetic sequencing

- evolved from within a particular group of freshwater green algae = CHAROPHYTA

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What charophyta is thought to be the most closely related to land plants?

A

Zygnema

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is gametic meiosis?

A

gametes produced directly by meiosis and fuse immediately without mitosis
- most lifecycle = diploid (animals)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is zygotic meiosis?

A

when meiosis occure immediately after diploid zygote formation

  • lifecycle mainly in haploid form
  • fungi
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is sporic meiosis?

A

mitosis occurs in both haploid and diploid phase and so 2 multicellular phases - all land plants

= alternation of generations

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is the haploid multicellular phase of plants life cycle called?

A

gametophyte

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What is the diploid multicellular phase of plant lifecycle called?

A

sporophyte

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Stages of plant life cycle?

x 6

A

1) Diploid multicellular stage
2) Meiosis to produce haploid spores
3) Mitosis of spores to haploid multicellular
4) Produce gametes by mitosis
5) Fertilisation of gametes = diploid
6) Mitosis to produce multicellular

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is a clade?

A

Monophyletic group

- group of organisms containing all decendants of an ancestor

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is a grade?

A

a group of organisms that share similarities but are not monophyletic

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What are the bryophytes?

A

Liverworts, hornworts and mosses - GRADE

  • 470 millions years ago to present
  • most closely related to charophyte algae
  • haploid dominant
  • small diploid sporophyte is parasitic to haploid
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What are the liverworts?

A

bryophytes which are most likely the earliest evolving land plant group

  • more or less amphibious thin plants
  • patches of cuticle and air pores
  • film of water over surface for reproduction as sperm need to swim
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What are hornworts?

A

bryophytes

  • resemble liverworts but have a full water-repellent surface cuticle
  • has 2 celled stomata in diploid
  • very few species
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What are mosses?

A

Bryophytes

  • fundamental to worlds carbon balance
  • have rudimentary cellular water transport systems —> not xylem
  • ~9,000 species
  • green spongy = haploid
  • extensions are diploid
  • need water on surface to reproduce as sperm swim
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What are the vascular plants?

A

clade

  • 420 million years ago to present
  • all but bryophytes
  • vertical water transport by xylem and also tough, rigid body
  • diploid sporophytes mainly
  • spore-producing bodies held high for long spore distribution

split

1) Non-seed producers = spore producers
2) seed plants

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What are the two main groups of living spore-producers?

A

1) lycophytes
2) ferns and horsetails

  • both still rely on water for reproduction
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What are lycophytes?

A

spore producers

  • called clubmosses but not mosses
  • few species remain
  • first plants to have leaves with vascular supply
  • thickened stems which gave first trees (though not small)
  • phloem
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What are horsetails?

A
  • ring of vascular tissue around hollow stem
  • strength
  • small
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What are ferns?

A

spore producers

  • large megaphylls (leaves) which produce spores
  • still water-dependent
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What are the seed plants?

A

1) gymnosperms
2) flowering plants = angiosperms

  • when gametophyte generation, egg and then next sporophyte generation within sporophyte tissue
  • when world dried out = dominant
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What are the three types of gymnosperms?

A

1) Cycads
2) Ginkgo
3) Conifers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What are cycads?

A

Gymnosperms

  • abundant 260-180 mya
  • single unbranched stems with mass of tough, highly divided leaves
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What is the maidenhair tree? Ginkgo?

A

only remaining ginkgo species left

  • gymnosperm
  • changed very little in past 150 mya
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What are conifers?

A
  • gymnosperms
  • developed novel method of tree growth = expanding ring of mitotically active tissue around tree = grow out as well as up to support
  • oldest and largest organisms
  • mainly needle-bearers
  • 700 species
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

What are angiosperms?

A

flowering plants

  • only 130 mya
  • 250,000-400,000 species

unique

1) showy/often coloured flowers
2) ovule completely enclosed
3) have double fertilisation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

What do plants have to cope with on land?

x 6

A
  1. Desiccating environments
  2. Gas exchange requirement changes (aerial environment and due to waterproofing)
  3. Mechanical support - not water buoyancy
  4. Transport water, nutrients and photosynthetic products around plant
  5. Changed nutrient uptake requirements
  6. Different reproduction conditions
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

2 benefits of transition to land

A
  1. light availability

2. Increased CO2 availability

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

How do liverworts deal with desiccation and gas exchange?

A

hug moist ground

  • partial cuticle
  • suspend metabolism, growth and reproduction when dry out
  • rapid recovery when water available
  • open air pores for gas exchnage
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

How do mosses cope with gas exchange and lack of water?

A
  • suspend metabolism if dry out
  • cuticle
  • doughnut-shaped guard cells
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

How do most plants deal with desiccation and gas exchange?

A
  • waterproof membrane or cuticle
  • cuticle of cutin = hydrophobic polymer
  • often uses waxes as well
  • barrier to fungal invasion
  • in vascular plants stomata have pair of guard cells - all stomata evolved from one (evolved once)
  • inside plants open pathways for large surface area for gas exchange
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

Why do land plants need transport systems?

A
  1. water = roots to leaves

2. photosynthetic nutrients = to roots

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

What carries water in plants and how are they formed?

A

Xylem

  • rings of lignin for support = pre-adaptation as in algae
  • cellulose strengthened
  • lignin water-resistant and antibiotic
  • cells cannot survive being wrapped in lignin - so apoptosis - leaves hollow tubes
  • water movement driven by water evaporation from stomata
  • lignin provides compression resistance but also lateral flexibility
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

Transport mechanism for photosynthates?

A

Phloem

  • sucrose
  • must be alive so no lignin
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

What did the first land plants have instead of roots?

A

Rhizoids

- hair like projections, helped anchor to ground

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

Why did roots evolve?

A
  1. stabilisation

2. Mineral and water uptake

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

What are mycorrhiza?

A
  • symbiosis between fungi and plants
  • in 85% of flowering plants
  • 100% gymnosperms
  • in fossils from Devonian
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

What is the structure of VAM - mycorrhiza?

A

VAM = Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhiza

  • fungal spores attracted to roots by chemical signals
  • hyphae form appressorium on root surface
  • force between epidermal cells and break into outer, cortical cells through cellulose
  • inside space between membrane and wall = arbuscule - little tree
  • big contact zone
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

What do plants gain from mycorrhiza?

A
  1. mobilisation of phosphate
  2. Plant growth hormones made in fungi
  3. protection from pathogens
  4. Maintenance for acid/base balance
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

What do fungi gain in VAM?

A

Sugars from plant

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

What are embryophytes?

A

All living plants

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
42
Q

Where are the eggs and embryos attached to the gametophyte?

A

Ina archegonium

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
43
Q

Examples of physical plant defences?

x 4

A
  1. Hairs
  2. Spines
  3. Glandular trichomes
  4. Stinging hairs
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
44
Q

How do hairs defend plants?

A

Hairs = TRICHOMES = unicellular or multicellular outgrowths of the epidermis

  • still air over surfaces cutting water loss
  • dense hairs are distasteful to mammalian grazers (sharp fragments can penetrate soft palate = irritation or infection)
  • Insects cant get to flesh
  • Or hooks to catch and trap so cant move and then starve
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
45
Q

How can spines protect plants?

A
  1. effective against large grazers and browsers

- develop by modification of a lot of different organs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
46
Q

What are glandular trichomes?

A

Secrete sticky substances to impede animal movement

- some carnivorous genera secrete proteases to digest the trapped insects

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
47
Q

How can stinging hair protect plants?

A
  • nettles
  • fragile trichomes that break when touched
  • embed into skin
  • histamine injected cause immediate itching
  • many other chemicals give long-lasting burn
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
48
Q

How can insects remove trichomes?

A

bite them off

- some pin them back

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
49
Q

What are the two classes of toxins?

A

nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous

50
Q

What are the 4 nitrogen based toxins?

A
  1. Amino acid analogues
  2. Cyanogenic glycosides
  3. Alkaloids
  4. Proteins
51
Q

Amino acid analogue toxins?

A
  • eaten then incorporated into animal proteins
  • dysfunctional proteins

EXAMPLE

  • β-cyanoalanine in Vicia can cause convulsions and death in mammals
  • 200mg/kg
52
Q

Cyanide containing plants?

A
  • release HCN when damaged
  • terminal respiration inhibitor = rapid death
  • inactive cyanogenic glycoside (usually in vacuole) to enzymes in apoplast - react - HCN
53
Q

Alkaloids in plants?

A
  • found in roughly 20% flowering plants families
  • have nitrogen containing rings
  • Hemlock
  • Strychnine = common rat poison
54
Q

Protein toxin in plants

A
  • ricin
  • breakdown ribosomes - stop protein synthesis
  • slow organ degradation and die
55
Q

Non-nitrogenous toxins

A
  • St Johns Wort
  • hypericin - photosensitivity
  • rotenone
56
Q

Tannins?

A
  • feeding deterrent (something that tastes bad)
  • Others include Phorbol esters in bark of paper birch
  • only height of grazing arctic hares
57
Q

Plants that coagulate attackers?

A
  • under epidermis
  • cells containing latex
  • coagulates by polymerisation
  • stick mouth parts together or insect to plant - starve
  • also can have poisonous compounds
58
Q

Hormone defences of plants

A

Ecdysone

  • metamorphosis of insects
  • yew
  • cause premature moulting and so die as exoskeleton splits
59
Q

Monarch Butterflies - Ouabain

A
  • milkweed produces ouabain = alkaloid
  • Monarch butterfly caterpillars insensitive and sequester it in body
  • toxic to birds
  • bright colouration
  • though some learnt to pick away body parts rich in glycosides
60
Q

What does the monocot clade contain?

A

wheat and maize

- 22% angiosperms

61
Q

Eudicot clade?

A

75% angiosperms

- split into rosids and asterids

62
Q

Why are the angiosperms so diverse?

A
  1. many differences between different clades
  2. huge number of species (250,000-400,000)
  3. diversified quickly within 130 million years
63
Q

What did the first angiosperm look like?

A
  1. woody or shrubby
  2. didnt have proper xylem vessels
  3. flowers probably didnt have separate sepals and petals and instead undifferentiated perianth
64
Q

Why did flowers enable angiosperms to radiate so dramatically

A

reproductive organ
- once mastered the ability to manipulate somebody, you can radiate into as many different sorts as there are different somebodies to manipulate

65
Q

Why use animals as pollinators?

A
  • more precise and efficient
  • dont need huge feathery stigmas
  • stop picking pollen from species that arent your own
66
Q

What do animals get from pollinating?

A

reward = nectar

  • some feed larvae with pollen as rich in amino acids- so some give excess pollen
67
Q

What is cantherophily?

A

beetle pollination

  • extra pollen
  • nectar in a flat surface
  • no good colour vision and rely on scent
  • white and strong smell
68
Q

What is myophily?

A

fly pollinators

  • not periodic so can pollinate during winter
  • dont feed offspring so need less pollen and only a small amount of nectar in flowers
  • pale and yellow flowers
69
Q

What is melittophily?

A

Bee pollination

  • carry pollen to feed larvae
  • perceive depth and long tongues
  • deep corolla tube nectar at base
  • big to bear weight
  • deposit pollen on back
  • blue yellow and ultraviolet but not red
  • bright colours and nectar guides
  • spots of stripes
70
Q

What is psychophily?

A

Butterfly pollination

  • can see red so bright coloured flowers
  • long tongues so nectar in tubes relatively deep
  • have to land on flowers
71
Q

What is phalaenophily?

A

Moth pollination

  • white
  • at night
  • hovers alongside the flower
  • which is bilaterally symmetrical with rims bent backwards
  • long nectar tubes
  • more nectar as energy expensive
  • strong scent
72
Q

What is ornithophily?

A

Bird pollination

  • Hummingbirds - nectar with long tongue
  • or some birds perch
  • mainly red - probably so bees dont take nectar as birds dont show preference
73
Q

What is chiropterophily?

A

Bat pollination

  • at night
  • usually white or cream
  • strong scent as bats colour blind
  • many anthers
  • usually hung below foliage
74
Q

What is deceit pollinations?

A
give no reward
- look like other flowers
- saves energy
- but frequency limited
some mimic female of species
- visually or by scent
- so mate and deposit on back
Some look like rotting meat
carrion and dung beetles
- looks like or smells dreadful
75
Q

What is the definition of a flower?

A

The determinate bisexual reproductive structure of an angiosperm
- just modified leaves
- fixed number of organs
- cant grow indefinitely
Sterile perianth surrounding reproductive organs

76
Q

Why arent the reproductive organs of gymnosperms flowers?

A
  1. not determinate
  2. not bisexual (male and female pine cone)
  3. not surrounded by sterile perianth
  4. Not an angiosperm
77
Q

How to induce mutants in plants and why

A

Study what the genes do by seeing how the plant changes with certain mutations

  • x rays
  • chemicals
78
Q

What is the model plant?

- why?

A

Arabidopsis thaliana

  • easy to grow
  • quick germination and growth
  • small
  • clear flowers
79
Q

What is the ABC model of flower development?

A

4 whorls of organs

  • Sepals = A expressed
  • Petals = AB
  • Stamens = BC
  • Carpels = C
  • A and C cant coexist (so overlap) as repress each other
  • if A lost then C all the way across so goes C, CB, BC, C (Carpels, stamen, stamen, carpel)
  • all gone then just leaves
80
Q

What is the function of the A gene?

A

AP2 = transcription factor

81
Q

What is B function in flowers?

A

2 function mutations

  • heterodimers
  • MADS box transcription factors
82
Q

What is C gene function in flowers?

A

MADS box transcription factors

- ag in arabidopsis

83
Q

When does the ABC model become present in plant lineage?

A

no recognisable homologues of ABC genes

  • B and C in gymnosperms but not A (no evidence for) - conifer and cycads
84
Q

What is the function of B and C genes in gymnosperms?

A

No hermaphroditic flowers
- male and female cones

B and C = conifers male cone
C = female cone
—>so BC is male sex organ like flowers

C from cycads can compliment (vaguely repair) arabidopsis C mutant

85
Q

What is the ABC model in monocots?

A

like tulips and lilies

  • 2 whorls of tepals rather than petals and sepals
  • so B gives tepals (unsure of A presence)
  • BC = stamen
  • C = carpels
86
Q

What is a transcription factor?

A

a protein which controls gene expression

  • a gene has a promoter region which RNA polymerase binds to
  • transcription factors allow this to happen
  • have binding domain (to promoter) and activation domain
  • the shape can put it into families like MADS box
87
Q

Domestication of maize

A

Maize = tall, unbranched
- lots of ears of corn = from female inflorescence

Teosinte is wild variety maize is from
- change in one gene

88
Q

What is the gene that differentiates maize from teosinte

A

TEOSINTE BRANCHED

  • encodes a transcription factor from TCP family
  • normally repress branching, only switched off in shade so grow taller

MAIZE
= completely inactivates so never branched, even in sunny environment
- artificial selection as easier to harvest and more energy to female inflorescences

89
Q

Why are angiosperm floral traits under strong selective pressure?

A

any mutation that makes a flower more attractive to pollinators than other flowers of other plants have strong selection
- converse is true

90
Q

Delphinium and bees plus hummingbirds

A

Flowers usually deep blue with white nectar guides
- some white so cannot distinguish the nectar guides

24% fewer visits from pollinators than blue

  • 1.2 to 1.4 times as long to fly between white flowers
  • 1.1 to 1.5 times as long to extract nectar

So never gets to very high frequency

91
Q

Petal cell shape controlled by MYB transcription factor

A

80% flowers have cone shaped petal epidermis cells

  • bees strongly favour cone shaped petal cells
  • most likely to grip flower
92
Q

Two ways in which weeds can have herbicide resistance

A
  1. resistance through enhanced metabolism
    - enhanced metabolism detoxifies herbicides before they act
    - may not provide absolute resistance to herbicides - less susceptible
  2. Target site resistance
    - absolute resistance
    - alter in a way that no longer effective
93
Q

What problem do you have to worry about with genetically engineered crops?

A

Foreign genes into natural environment

  • seed
  • pollen

Does it have a selective advantage and how likely is this to happen

  • maize cant grow without fertilisers so rarely find outside of supported fields
  • also rarely crosses as few close relatives in UK
94
Q

Why is it harder to define plants into species?

A

fewer barriers to gene flow

- no behaviour and little differences between reproductive organs are largely absent

95
Q

What is the process of introgression?

A
  • hybrids backcrossing into a parent population

- effectively very fast mutations as rapid exchange in alleles

96
Q

Why do plants tolerate hybridisation better than animals?

A

Plant embryogenesis is simpler than animal

- few problem in development

97
Q

Why aren’t all hybrids sterile?

A
  • often problems during meiosis - irregular chromosome pairing
  • most gametes are inviable
  • BUT most long-lived and may vegetatively reproduce
  • all sterile hybrids are fertile at some low level
  • restitution events
98
Q

What is a restitution event?

A

error in meiosis where all chromosomes into one daughter gamete

  • roughly 1% occurrence
  • get two diploid at end of meiosis
99
Q

How are autopolyploids formed?

A

Diploid gamete from restitution

  • fertilised by normal and triploid zygote formed
  • doesn’t disturb development
  • pollen and egg viability low as unbalanced chromosome combination usually lead to gametophyte death
  • BUT RESTITUTION AGAIN
  • then triploid gamete fertilised
  • autotetraploid
100
Q

How are allopolyploids formed?

A

Hybridisation

  • restitution event
  • self-fertilise
  • one generation allotetraploid AABB
  • much more likely
101
Q

What is the genetic consequence of autopolyploids?

A

4 copies of each gene
- 2 alleles then 5 different genotypes
- tetrasomic inheritance
a lot more genetic variance

102
Q

What is the genetic consequences of allopolyploid?

A

depend on evolutionary relationships of the two parental types

  • between extremes
  • complete recognition between closely related
  • very different then no recognition (amphidiploidy)
  • so 2 always inherited together
  • permanent true breeding heterozygote

If not at extremes then mix of tetrasomic and diploid inheritance

103
Q

Establishment of polyploids?

A
  • hard in parent habitat
  • due to infertility
  • but edges of populations
  • common in europe at retreat of glacier
104
Q

Example of modern polyploidy speciation

A

20 times to give T.miscellus
- 12 to give T.mirus

America in last 70 years
- three european species Tragopogon

105
Q

How does gene duplication occur in plants?

x 3

A
  1. unequal crossing over
  2. Transposition
  3. Polyploidy
106
Q

How does unequal crossing over cause gene duplication?

A

Chiasma forms imperfectly

  • duplication of part of DNA on one and the deletion on the other
  • deletion usually deleterious so individual with this usually dies
  • Duplication usually survives
  • once happened then it is more likely to occur again as more likely in repetitive regions
107
Q

How does transposition duplicate DNA?

A

DNA from one chromosome to another because it is attached to a transposon

  • loss may end up in individual that then dies
  • the one with the duplication more likely to survive
108
Q

How does polyploidy lead to gene duplication?

A

doubling of DNA available

- enormous opportunity

109
Q

Why is gene duplication useful for new function?

A

Harder to change necessary genes

- if duplicated then only one needed and other can be subject to change and new function

110
Q

What is a pseudogene?

A

A non-functional sequence degraded by mutations

111
Q

What is subfunctionalisation?

A

The DNA duplicates and the roles of each split between original single
- so both do parts of same function as whole one

112
Q

What is neofunctionalisation?

A

New copy of gene recruited to new roles

- can be related to original function of completely different

113
Q

Which genes have the most effect if replicated?

A

Transcription factors

- more effect on plant overall

114
Q

How are transcription factors classified into families?

A

There are conserved regions which involve the binding to the promoter region

  • conserved within families
  • but actual role is almost completely unpredictable
115
Q

What is the MYB transcription factor family?

A

Evolved through partial duplications

  • existed before plants and animals diverged
  • but main duplication in plants
  • characterised by helix-turn-helix region at N terminus (52 aa long)
  • many repeats of this, 1, 2 or 3
116
Q

What is the function of 3 repeat MYBs

A

Very conserved function
- all involved in cell cycle

In animals associated with promotion of cellular proliferation (speed and timing of cell cycle)

117
Q

Function of 1 repeat MYBs

A

Subgroup which is very conserved

  • recognising and binding telomeres of chromosomes
  • in plants, animals and fungo both structurally and functionally
118
Q

Function of 2 repeat MYBs

A

Original R2R3 MYB duplicated several times

  • more than 120 R2R3 in arabidopsis
  • many different functions
119
Q

How has the duplication of genes for enzymes of secondary metabolism been essential in angiosperm radiation?

A

Not essential for survival

  • but allowed for chemical defences
  • scent and colour
  • defence, attraction and signalling
120
Q

Why is gene duplication not necessary for new enzyme evolution?

A

Mutation at a single locus can be sustainable if it doesnt encode for survival
- as this is essentially the definition of secondary metabolism