{
  "abstract": "Over their more than 1 billion years of evolutionary history, streptophytes have repeatedly transitioned between unicellular, simple multicellular and complex multicellular forms. Rather than a linear trajectory toward increasing complexity culminating in land plants, streptophyte evolution is now understood as highly dynamic. Phylogenomic analyses reveal an early origin of multicellularity followed by lineage-specific losses, reductions and secondary gains of complexity. Filamentous and parenchymatous body plans in Charophyceae and Coleochaetophyceae are derived rather than direct precursors of land plant multicellularity, while zygnematophyte algae - the sister group to embryophytes - exhibit dramatic reductions to unicellular or filamentous forms despite retaining genetic toolkits linked to multicellular traits. We argue that streptophyte multicellular evolution is best explained by regulatory changes at the cellular level rather than gene gain or loss alone. Variation in cell division patterns, polarity establishment, cell wall sensing and intercellular connectivity plays a central role in shaping body plan diversity. We further propose that rewiring protein-protein interaction networks, mediated by intrinsically disordered regions and short linear motifs, represents a key mechanism driving repeated evolutionary innovation. Integrating comparative genomics, ancestral state reconstruction and functional cell biology will clarify how conserved molecular toolkits generated streptophyte diversity and ultimately facilitated the emergence of land plants.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Applied Bioinformatics Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, University of Göttingen Julia‐Lermontowa‐Weg 3 37077 Göttingen Germany",
    "Department of Experimental Phycology and SAG Culture Collection of Algae Albrecht‐von‐Haller‐Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen Nikolausberger Weg 18 37073 Göttingen Germany",
    "Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN‐CSIC) José Gutiérrez Abascal 2 28006 Madrid Spain",
    "Research Department for Limnology University of Innsbruck Mondseestr. 9 5310 Mondsee Austria",
    "Plant Cell Biology University of Marburg Karl‐von‐Frisch‐Straße 8 35043 Marburg Germany",
    "Plant Physiology, Institute of Biology Martin‐Luther‐University Halle‐Wittenberg Weinbergweg 10 06120 Halle (Saale) Germany",
    "Faculty of Applied Computer Sciences and Biosciences, Section Biotechnology and Chemistry, Molecular Biotechnology University of Applied Sciences Mittweida Technikumplatz 17 09648 Mittweida Germany",
    "Department of Applied Bioinformatics Göttingen Center for Molecular Biosciences (GZMB), University of Göttingen Julia‐Lermontowa‐Weg 3 37077 Göttingen Germany",
    "University of Göttingen, Campus Institute Data Science (CIDAS) Julia‐Lermontowa‐Weg 3 37077 Göttingen Germany"
  ],
  "article_type": "review",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Tatyana Darienko",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1957-0076"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Cäcilia F. Kunz",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7541-5866"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Elisa S. Goldbecker",
      "orcid": "0009-0009-7190-1387"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Erika Endriulaitytė"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Maaike J. Bierenbroodspot",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4460-3394"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Maike Lorenz",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2277-3077"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Iker Irisarri",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3628-1137"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Thomas Pröschold",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7858-0434"
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    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Katharina Bürstenbinder",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3493-4800"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Henrik Buschmann",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3022-6150"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7,
        0,
        8
      ],
      "name": "Jan de Vries",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3507-5195"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ay52ebpk25j1t.bib",
  "cited_by": 5,
  "doi": "10.1111/nph.71415",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "ay52ebpk25j1t",
  "issns": [
    "0028-646X",
    "1469-8137"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71415",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1105|Protist diversity and phylogeny"
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  "openalex": "W7167912668",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13443282",
  "pmid": "42426897",
  "published": "2026-07-09",
  "publisher": "Wiley",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ay52ebpk25j1t.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-08T13:20:45Z",
      "native_id": "W7167912668",
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      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71415"
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:1105|Protist diversity and phylogeny",
      "subfield": "evolutionary-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The evolutionary origins of streptophyte multicellularity",
  "title_text": "The evolutionary origins of streptophyte multicellularity",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T13:20:45Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ay52ebpk25j1t",
  "venue": "New Phytologist",
  "versions": []
}