Science, Space and Technology News 2024
A new study by 279 scientists, led by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, has updated our understanding of the flowering plant tree of life by analyzing genetic data from over 9,500 species. This research, involving an international collaboration and significant technological advancements, provides crucial insights for plant classification, conservation, and medicinal discovery. The findings are freely accessible, promising to enhance future botanical studies and applications.
Tom Carruthers, postdoctoral researcher in the lab of U-M evolutionary biologist Stephen Smith, is co-lead author of the study with Zuntini, who he previously worked with at Kew. U-M plant systematist Richard Rabeler is a co-author.“Flowering plants feed, clothe, and greet us whenever we walk into the woods.
The flowering plant tree of life, much like our own family tree, enables us to understand how different species are related to each other. The tree of life is uncovered by comparing DNA sequences between different species to identify changes that accumulate over time like a molecular fossil record. Across all 9,506 species sequenced, more than 3,400 came from material sourced from 163 herbaria in 48 countries.
Flowering plants originated more than 140 million years ago after which they rapidly overtook other vascular plants including their closest living relatives—the gymnosperms .
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