Molecular dissection of the angiosperm stem lineage to elucidate the enigmatic early phase in the evolution of flowers
Abstract
A consensus is emerging that the angiosperms, or flowering plants, arose in or near tropical northern regions of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, and rapidly expanded in the Early to mid-Cretaceous to colonize most terrestrial ecosystems. Good progress has also been made in establishing the likely characteristics of the most recent common ancestor of living angiosperms. However, it is more than likely that this ancestral species emerged from a very long stem lineage, and this early phase of angiosperm evolution remains highly enigmatic. In this article, we propose the use of gene and whole-genome duplication events that occurred along the angiosperm stem lineage as temporal reference points to determine the order of acquisition of angiosperm-specific features, such as the perianth, carpel, bisexual floral axis, outer integument, and curved ovule symmetry. We argue that a time-line for the origin of angiosperm-specific traits could be used to help choose the most likely close stem relatives or ancestors of angiosperms from among numerous groups of extinct gymnospermous plants known from the fossil record.
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BibTeX
@article{scutt2026molecular,
title = {{Molecular dissection of the angiosperm stem lineage to elucidate the enigmatic early phase in the evolution of flowers}},
author = {Charlie P Scutt and Léa Rambaud-Lavigne and Marie Morel and Pierre Chambrier and Richard M Bateman and Paula J Rudall and Raquel Tavares},
journal = {Flora},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.flora.2026.153098},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05854867v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Molecular dissection of the angiosperm stem lineage to elucidate the enigmatic early phase in the evolution of flowers
AU - Charlie P Scutt
AU - Léa Rambaud-Lavigne
AU - Marie Morel
AU - Pierre Chambrier
AU - Richard M Bateman
AU - Paula J Rudall
AU - Raquel Tavares
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
JO - Flora
DO - 10.1016/j.flora.2026.153098
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05854867v1
AB - A consensus is emerging that the angiosperms, or flowering plants, arose in or near tropical northern regions of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, and rapidly expanded in the Early to mid-Cretaceous to colonize most terrestrial ecosystems. Good progress has also been made in establishing the likely characteristics of the most recent common ancestor of living angiosperms. However, it is more than likely that this ancestral species emerged from a very long stem lineage, and this early phase of angiosperm evolution remains highly enigmatic. In this article, we propose the use of gene and whole-genome duplication events that occurred along the angiosperm stem lineage as temporal reference points to determine the order of acquisition of angiosperm-specific features, such as the perianth, carpel, bisexual floral axis, outer integument, and curved ovule symmetry. We argue that a time-line for the origin of angiosperm-specific traits could be used to help choose the most likely close stem relatives or ancestors of angiosperms from among numerous groups of extinct gymnospermous plants known from the fossil record.
SN - 0367-2530
ER -