Rates of Molecular Evolution Are Linked to Life History in Flowering Plants
Top Cited Papers
- 3 October 2008
- journal article
- other
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 322 (5898) , 86-89
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1163197
Abstract
Variable rates of molecular evolution have been documented across the tree of life, but the cause of this observed variation within and among clades remains uncertain. In plants, it has been suggested that life history traits are correlated with the rate of molecular evolution, but previous studies have yielded conflicting results. Exceptionally large phylogenies of five major angiosperm clades demonstrate that rates of molecular evolution are consistently low in trees and shrubs, with relatively long generation times, as compared with related herbaceous plants, which generally have shorter generation times. Herbs show much higher rates of molecular change but also much higher variance in rates. Correlates of life history attributes have long been of interest to biologists, and our results demonstrate how changes in the rate of molecular evolution that are linked to life history traits can affect measurements of the tempo of evolution as well as our ability to identify and conserve biodiversity.Keywords
This publication has 33 references indexed in Scilit:
- DNA barcoding the floras of biodiversity hotspotsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008
- RAxML-VI-HPC: maximum likelihood-based phylogenetic analyses with thousands of taxa and mixed modelsBioinformatics, 2006
- Relaxed Phylogenetics and Dating with ConfidencePLoS Biology, 2006
- Biogeography and divergence times in the mulberry family (Moraceae)Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 2005
- Implications of molecular systematic analyses on the conservation of rare and threatened taxa: Contrasting examples from MalvaceaeConservation Genetics, 2005
- Dating the Dipsacales: comparing models, genes, and evolutionary implicationsAmerican Journal of Botany, 2005
- The age of major monocot groups inferred from 800+rbcL sequencesBotanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004
- MUSCLE: multiple sequence alignment with high accuracy and high throughputNucleic Acids Research, 2004
- Substitution rate comparisons between grasses and palms: synonymous rate differences at the nuclear gene Adh parallel rate differences at the plastid gene rbcL.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1996
- Metabolic Rate, Generation Time, and the Rate of Molecular Evolution in BirdsMolecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 1994