Understanding plant adaptation and diversification: evo-devo and beyond

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49

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16

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4

Madelaine Elisabeth Bartlett

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Clinton Whipple

Brigham Young University

Jill Christine Preston

University of Vermont

Chelsea D. Specht

Cornell University

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With the ultimate goal of understanding the genetic causes of morphological variation and adaptation, the field of plant evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) has made significant strides since its fairly recent revivification. Plant evo-devo, at its best, is an integrative and heterogeneous field, drawing from the techniques and conceptual frameworks of systematics, developmental genetics, molecular evolution, comparative morphology, and molecular biology, to name a few. In an admission of the interconnectedness of an organism’s phylogenetic history, developmental genetics, and environment, the field has been moving towards a new synthesis: evolutionary and ecological developmental biology (eco-evo-devo). By tradition and practice evo-devo has been a field driven by macroevolutionary theory, but lately researchers have been attempting to incorporate and test microevolutionary theory and hypotheses. In the light of these various novel connections and collisions, we aim to collect a body of papers that present a review of the state of the art in plant evolutionary biology, with a focus on evo-devo. This research topic aims to foster collaboration and discussion between plant biologists working towards an understanding of plant diversity and adaptation, often working in the same systems, but asking questions under differing paradigms. The research topic will be organized around plant organs and life history traits (e.g. leaves, flowers, inflorescences, color, cold tolerance), and we encourage the submission of reviews, perspectives, and original research papers from plant biologists united by the common goal of understanding the patterns and causes of diversification and adaptation.

With the ultimate goal of understanding the genetic causes of morphological variation and adaptation, the field of plant evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) has made significant strides since its fairly recent revivification. Plant evo-devo, at its best, is an integrative and heterogeneous field, drawing from the techniques and conceptual frameworks of systematics, developmental genetics, molecular evolution, comparative morphology, and molecular biology, to name a few. In an admission of the interconnectedness of an organism’s phylogenetic history, developmental genetics, and environment, the field has been moving towards a new synthesis: evolutionary and ecological developmental biology (eco-evo-devo). By tradition and practice evo-devo has been a field driven by macroevolutionary theory, but lately researchers have been attempting to incorporate and test microevolutionary theory and hypotheses. In the light of these various novel connections and collisions, we aim to collect a body of papers that present a review of the state of the art in plant evolutionary biology, with a focus on evo-devo. This research topic aims to foster collaboration and discussion between plant biologists working towards an understanding of plant diversity and adaptation, often working in the same systems, but asking questions under differing paradigms. The research topic will be organized around plant organs and life history traits (e.g. leaves, flowers, inflorescences, color, cold tolerance), and we encourage the submission of reviews, perspectives, and original research papers from plant biologists united by the common goal of understanding the patterns and causes of diversification and adaptation.

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Editors

Madelaine Elisabeth Bartlett

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Clinton Whipple

Brigham Young University

Jill Christine Preston

University of Vermont

Chelsea D. Specht

Cornell University

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Frontiers in Plant Science

Plant Development and EvoDevo

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