How can we trace the evolution of plants through time, from its humble wild beginnings to its popular modern varieties? There are several approaches to answer this question, including searching for archaeological remains and traces of DNA or looking for information in written texts. However, these approaches give limited insight into how the plants might have looked. In contrast, artistic depictions accurately reflect the plant’s phenotype, and this approach recently gained more interest to trace the domestication of our plants through time. Therefore, we believe that it is time to create a Research Topic focused on bringing together different disciplines, such as art and (molecular) biology. Furthermore, these aspects could be supplemented with archaeological and historical information to provide a larger framework for the evolution of plants.
This Research Topic welcomes Reviews, Mini-Reviews, Methods, and Original Research articles using art to trace the evolution of plants. We would like to include observations from art related to plants, as well as fundamental research using these observations to draw novel conclusions or hypotheses (supplemented with archaeobotanical and literature evidence). We also welcome contributions that use genetic, genomic, biochemical, proteomic, physiological, or metabolomic approaches to answer specific questions on the historical phenotypes of plants. Contributions from young investigators and early career scientists are particularly welcome.
How can we trace the evolution of plants through time, from its humble wild beginnings to its popular modern varieties? There are several approaches to answer this question, including searching for archaeological remains and traces of DNA or looking for information in written texts. However, these approaches give limited insight into how the plants might have looked. In contrast, artistic depictions accurately reflect the plant’s phenotype, and this approach recently gained more interest to trace the domestication of our plants through time. Therefore, we believe that it is time to create a Research Topic focused on bringing together different disciplines, such as art and (molecular) biology. Furthermore, these aspects could be supplemented with archaeological and historical information to provide a larger framework for the evolution of plants.
This Research Topic welcomes Reviews, Mini-Reviews, Methods, and Original Research articles using art to trace the evolution of plants. We would like to include observations from art related to plants, as well as fundamental research using these observations to draw novel conclusions or hypotheses (supplemented with archaeobotanical and literature evidence). We also welcome contributions that use genetic, genomic, biochemical, proteomic, physiological, or metabolomic approaches to answer specific questions on the historical phenotypes of plants. Contributions from young investigators and early career scientists are particularly welcome.
