The evolution of To address this, we functionally characterised 23 distinct We find that low In the context of an updated organismal phylogeny and newly inferred pigment reconstructions, we argue that repeated convergent acquisition of elevated
Red algae are the oldest identifiable multicellular eukaryotes, with a fossil record dating back more than a billion years. During that time two major rhodophyte lineages, bangiophytes and florideophytes, have evolved varied levels of morphological complexity. These two groups are distinguished, in part, by different patterns of multicellular development, with florideophytes exhibiting a far greater diversity of morphologies. Interestingly, during their long evolutionary history, there is no record of a rhodophyte achieving the kinds of cellular and tissue‐specific differentiation present in other multicellular algal lineages. To date, the genetic underpinnings of unique aspects of red algal development are largely unexplored; however, they must reflect the complements and patterns of expression of key regulatory genes. Here we report comparative evolutionary and gene expression analyses of core subunits of the
- PAR ID:
- 10077985
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Phycology
- Volume:
- 54
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 0022-3646
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 879-887
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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