Press release: Hornworts provide clues to plant evolution
No. 10 - 20.01.2025
Researchers create dataset resource to understand plant development, resilience and biodiversity
Land plants are extremely diverse: over 400,000 species reaching every corner of the world. This diversity mainly splits into two plant lineages: vascular and non-vascular. Vascular plants are the ones that often capture our attention – from the towering trees to the crops in our fields. Yet, it is tiny non-vascular plants, such as the humble hornwort, that can hold clues about plant evolution and diversity. Now, an international team led by the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) on the Cornell University campus, and including the University of Göttingen, has generated a unique dataset resource about the hornwort which provides new insights into plants’ early evolution, characteristics and continuing development. The results were published in Nature Plants.
Non-vascular plants are made up of mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. Hornworts present a puzzle in that they split from the others about 470 million years ago. In comparison, they are much less diverse, with only around 230 species. Despite this, it turns out hornworts are surprisingly important for understanding how plants evolved to live on land because of their unique features and ancient origins.
The researchers began by decoding the genomes of the only ten known families of hornwort species that diverged from each other over 300 million years ago. They discovered that hornworts have maintained remarkably stable chromosomes. Dr Peter Schafran, a postdoctoral scientist at BTI and first author of the study says: “What we found was unexpected: hornworts have maintained remarkably stable chromosomes despite evolving separately for several hundred million years” Unlike many plants, hornworts have not experienced “whole-genome duplication”, where an organism’s entire genetic material is duplicated. This absence of duplication has resulted in stable “autosomes” – the chromosomes that hold most of an organism’s genetic material. In contrast, the researchers found that some parts of the hornwort genome are much more dynamic, evolving rapidly and varying even within individual plants.
The team discovered the presence of "accessory chromosomes" – extra genetic material that isn't essential for survival but can provide additional benefits. Additionally, they identified potential sex chromosomes in some species, shedding light on the evolution of plant reproductive strategies. The study provided insights into specific plant traits regarding genes involved in hormone signalling, flavonoid production and formation of stomata, the tiny pores that regulate gas exchange. “This comprehensive genomic dataset for hornworts provides a resource to help understand how the very first plants on Earth evolved and adapted to their new, challenging environment,” explains Professor Jan de Vries, from the Department of Applied Bioinformatics, Göttingen University.
“It is only by consolidating these diverse and sometimes overlooked organisms, that researchers can grasp the common principles of the molecular biology of plants,” says Dr Sophie de Vries, also from Göttingen University. “The study provides insights into how the diversity of plants evolved and how plants might adapt to future environmental challenges.”
Original publication: Schafran P et al, “Pan-phylum genomes of hornworts reveal conserved autosomes but dynamic accessory and sex chromosomes” Nature Plants 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41477-024-01883-w
Contact:
Professor Jan de Vries
University of Göttingen
Faculty of Biology and Psychology
Institute of Microbiology and Genetics
Department of Applied Bioinformatics
Goldschmidtstraße 1, 37077 Göttingen
Tel: +49 (0)551 39-13995
Email: devries.jan@uni-goettingen.de
www.uni-goettingen.de/en/613776.html
Contact:
Dr Sophie de Vries
University of Göttingen
Faculty of Biology and Psychology
Institute of Microbiology and Genetics
Department of Applied Bioinformatics
Goldschmidtstraße 1, 37077 Göttingen
Tel: +49 (0)551 39-21693
Email: Sophie.devries@uni-goettingen.de
www.uni-goettingen.de/en/654190.html