EvoDevo going green: case studies from plant morphological diversity and plasticity

Plant evo-devo has seen a surge of exciting accomplishments in recent years due to the inclusion of more plant species across broad phylogenetic scales as well as more comprehensive research questions targeting previously unexplored ontogenetic transformations and their underlying molecular mechanisms. The broader thematic scope of the field now includes comparative research on the genetic mechanisms controlling multicellularity, stem cell niches and cell fate, tissue patterning, structural specialization during different phases of the life cycle, and diversity in form of vegetative and reproductive structures. Some of the longstanding questions in plant evolution are starting to be addressed by careful anatomical studies, which place ontogenetic repatterning into a phylogenetic context, large-scale studies on the evolution of key developmental genes across plants, and the assessment of a specific genetic regulatory network responsible for a particular process in a given taxon. Equally powerful are the modern large-scale expression analyses tools available and the implementation of silencing technologies in a number of emerging non-model organisms, both of which have allowed a better understanding of the functional mechanisms controlling plant development. In turn, a field inherently interdisciplinary has grown to leverage aspects of cell and molecular biology, morphometrics and comparative genomics in a phylogenetic context. This topic intends to bring together reviews and research articles that aim to understand how shifts in development build the diversity of plant phenotypes. In this topic we aim to cover: Cell fate changes during plant developmental transitions Genetic bases of the alternation of generations Bridges between gene expression and phenotype during plant development Molecular mechanisms responsible for reproductive processes in diverse plant groups Genetic mechanisms underlying floral organ identity, floral symmetry and floral color changes in any angiosperm lineage Ontogenetic repatterning in the construction of different wood types