Evolution of Green Plants
Spring 2012
EEB 3220 (3 cr)
EEB 3220W (W, 4 cr)
EEB 5220 (graduate, 3 cr)
Lectures: T/TH 12:30-13:45 in Engineering II 323
EEB3221 (lab) students: 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 Professor
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
office: 300 Pharmacy/Biology Building
voice: +1 860-486-5290
email: bernard.goffinet@uconn.edu
Syllabus
Download EEB3220 course Syllabus (requires password) for info on grading and course policies.
EEB3220W students: Download instructions (requires password) prior to our first W meeting
Textbook and readings
Textbook: Willis and McElwain (2002): The evolution of plants. Oxford University Press. Additional readings from the primary literature will be assigned to some lectures through links in the schedule below. This material (textbook and papers) is considered part of the lecture material and must be read for the midterm and exam.
Announcements
- 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</br>
Schedule
Notes: downloads require password; best viewed in Adobe Reader (some problems with the MAC "Preview" program).
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.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/fl2105h6428366m3/