A New Molecular Family Tree of Grasses
Published:20 Mar.2022 Source:Penn State
The evolutionary relationships among grasses -- including important crop plants like wheat, rice, corn, and sugarcane -- have been clarified in new molecular study of the grass family tree. Having a clear picture of the relationships among the grasses can help understanding of how important crop traits like seed size or disease resistance evolves and eventually could inform manipulation of these traits to increase crop yields.
The massive study, which includes a sampling of over 350 grass species, also provides evidence that a type of photosynthesis -- known as "C4 photosynthesis" -- that allows the plants to harness the sun's energy in hot, dry climates evolved independently multiple times within different grass lineages.