MADS-box genes reveal that gnetophytes are more closely related to conifers than to flowering plants.

ABSTRACT: The evolutionary origin of the angiosperms (flowering plants sensu stricto) is still enigmatic. Answers to the question of angiosperm origins are intimately connected to the identification of their sister group among extinct and extant taxa. Most phylogenetic analyses based on morphological data agree that among the groups of extant seed plants, the gnetophytes are the sister group of the angiosperms. According to this view, angiosperms and gnetophytes are the only extant members of a clade called "anthophytes" to emphasize their shared possession of flower-like reproductive structures. However, most phylogeny reconstructions based on molecular data so far did not support an anthophyte clade, but also could not clarify the case because support for alternative groupings has been weak or con

SUBMITTER: Winter KU 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC22087 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature