Evolution of Green Plants
Spring 2010
EEB 3220 (3 cr)
EEB 3220W (W, 4 cr)
EEB 5220 (graduate, 3 cr)
Spring 2010
Lectures: T/TH 12:30-13:45 in TLS 301
Labs: T 14:00-16:50 in TLS 115
Download a general course Syllabus (requires password)
Download EEB3220W instructions (requires password)
To lab home page.
Contents
Instructor Contact Information
Louise A. Lewis Associate Professor
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
office: 200 Pharmacy/Biology Building
voice: +1 860-486-6723
email: louise.lewis@uconn.edu
Bernard Goffinet Associate Professor
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
office: 300 Pharmacy/Biology Building
voice: +1 860-486-5290
email: bernard.goffinet@uconn.edu
TA Contact Information
Juan Carlos Villarreal A. Lab Instructor
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
office: 312 Pharmacy/Biology Building
voice: +1 860-486-6306
email: jcarlos.villarreal@gmail.com
Office hours: Wednesday 12-1, BIOPHARM 312 or feel free to email in advance
Textbook and readings
There is no official text book. Instead, you will be assigned readings from the primary literature to go with the lectures. This material is considered part of the lecture material and must be read for the midterm and exam .
Announcements (NEW ONES POSTED)
- Watch This: Moss helps chart the conquest of land by plants
- Learn more about the Rhynie Chert at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/rhynie/intro.htm
Schedule (updated Feb. 8)
Notes: downloads require password; best viewed in Adobe Reader (some problems with the MAC "Preview" program).
Date | Topic | Assignment | Prof. |
---|---|---|---|
Tu 19 Jan | Introduction: "plants?", "photosynthesis", "emerging from the water", ... Lecture1.pdf |
Reading: Assignment 1: Life cycles (due Jan. 26) |
BG |
Th 21 Jan | The context for the evolution and subsequent diversification of land plants Lecture2.pdf |
Reading: |
BG |
Tu 26 Jan | Life cycles of green plants, meiosis, mitosis; Phylogenetic trees Jan26 |
Reading: McCourt et al. 2004 Assignment 1 due |
LL |
Th 28 Jan | Phylogenetic trees (continued) Jan28 |
Reading: Baum & Offner 2008 | LL |
Tu 02 Feb | Aquatic ancestors to embryophytes Feb02 Feb02b (2 modified slides) |
Reading: Graham et al. 2000 Assignment 2: phylogenetic trees (due Feb. 9) Assignment 2 groups |
LL |
Th 04 Feb | Bryophytes, Ferns and other seed-free vascular plants Feb04 |
Reading: |
LL |
Tu 09 Feb | Ferns and Gymnosperms Feb09 |
Reading: Pryer et al. 2001 Assignment 2 due |
LL |
Th 11 Feb | Angiosperms Feb11 |
Reading: Pennisi 2009 |
LL |
Tu 16 Feb | Developmental tool kit: genome evolution Feb16post.pdf |
Reading: Bowmanetal.pdf. For graduate students only: read intro and discussion at least of Floyd&Bowman.pdf |
BG |
Th 18 Feb | Genome reduction Feb18 note: EEB seminar 4 PM - Doug Soltis |
Reading: Bungard 2004 Bock & Timmis 2008 (optional) Assignment 3: seminar today Assignment 3 guidelines |
LL |
Tu 23 Feb | Desiccation tolerance Feb.23 |
Reading: Alpert 2005 Assignment 3 due (Soltis summary) |
LL |
Th 25 Feb | Plant:fungal interactions 12Feb25SM.pdf |
Reading: Selosse&LeTacon.pdf For EEB5220 only: Selosseetal2006.pdf |
BG |
Tu 02 Mar | Fossilization | Reading: |
BG |
Th 04 Mar | Fossil evidence for the transition to land to lecture notes | Reading: |
BG |
Tu 09 Mar | SPRING BREAK | ||
Th 11 Mar | SPRING BREAK | ||
Tu 16 Mar | Midterm Exam (100 points) (through 04 March material) | ||
Th 18 Mar | Polysporangiophytes: origin of branching and distribution of sporangia | Reading: |
BG |
Tu 23 Mar | Origin and evolution of water conducting cells | Reading: |
BG |
Th 25 Mar | Early diversification of Tracheophytes | Reading: |
BG |
Tu 30 Mar | Origin of the seed and early diversification of seed plants | Reading: |
BG |
Th 01 Apr | EEB seminar: Paul Strother / Q&A on his paper | Reading: Assignment 4: seminar today Assignment 4 guidelines |
|
Tu 06 Apr | Origin of the flower and early diversification of flowering plants | Assignment 4 due (Strother summary) | BG |
Th 08 Apr | EEB seminar: Kathleen Pryer / Q&A on her paper | Reading: Assignment 5: seminar today |
|
Tu 13 Apr | Photosynthesis in an oxygen-rich world | Reading: Assignment 5 due (Pryer summary) |
LL |
Th 15 Apr | Hormones | Reading: |
LL |
Tu 20 Apr | Phylogeny of land plants: character sources, inferences, conflicts | Reading: |
LL |
Th 22 Apr | Graduate student presentations | ||
Tu 27 Apr | Graduate student presentations | ||
Th 29 Apr | Time tree of evolution of land plants, wrap up | Reading: |
BG |
?? May | Final Exam (100 points on new material, 25 points comprehensive. Will include questions about the graduate student presentations.) |
Links
- Watch This: movie of bryophyte gametes
"Whitish smoke in the movie are small droplets containing smreps (deliberate misspelling of word for male gametes).
The smreps in the droplets are still un-motile. When touch the
water, they begin to swim. In our experiments, misting with water is
trigger of the explosion. If antheridia were mature, the explosion
begin within few minutes. The event continued about for 10 min.
Intense light for video recording also seems to accelerate the
phenomenon. Each antheridia is deeply sunk in a cavity of
antheridiophore and there is a very small pore on the top of each
cavity. Swollen cells of surrounding tissue might cause the pressure
force. Cavers (1903) and Muggoch & Walton (1942) also discussed about the mechanism, but, I think no one examined about the detail mechanism of the phenomenon.
In Hiroshima, the season of mreps dispersal is Spring (April to May).
In our field observation, we detected many airborne smreps in the
sunny day after rain shower.
I do not have detail data about how many species of liverworts have
airborne mreps. At least, Asian species of Conocephalum (C.
japonicum) do in the same manner." M. Shimamura
Shimamura, M., Yamaguchi, T. & Deguchi, H. 2008.
Airborne sperm of Conocephalum conicum (Conocephalaceae). J. Plant
Res. 121: 69-71.