abstract: Plant (archaeplastid) evolution has transformed the biosphere, but we are
  only now beginning to learn how this took place through comparative genomics, phylogenetics,
  and the fossil record. This has illuminated the phylogeny of Archaeplastida, Viridiplantae,
  and Streptophyta, and has resolved the evolution of key characters, genes, and genomes
  - revealing that many key innovations evolved long before the clades with which
  they have been casually associated. Molecular clock analyses estimate that Streptophyta
  and Viridiplantae emerged in the late Mesoproterozoic to late Neoproterozoic, whereas
  Archaeplastida emerged in the late-mid Palaeoproterozoic. Together, these insights
  inform on the coevolution of plants and the Earth system that transformed ecology
  and global biogeochemical cycles, increased weathering, and precipitated snowball
  Earth events, during which they would have been key to oxygen production and net
  primary productivity (NPP).
authors:
- Bowles, Alexander M C
- Williamson, Christopher J
- Williams, Tom A
- Lenton, Timothy M
- Donoghue, Philip C J
doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2022.09.009
issn: 1360-1385,1878-4372
issue: '3'
journal: Trends Plant Sci.
language: en
lastmod: '2023-03-01'
pages: 312-329
path: /library/bowles-2023.html
pmid: '36328872'
published: '2023-03-01'
publisher: Elsevier BV
reference: Bowles 2023
title: The origin and early evolution of plants
type: article
volume: '28'
year: 2023