Aquatic plant’s genome reveals evolutionary surprises

Researchers unravelled the secrets behind Quillwort's (Isoëtes taiwanensis) special kind of photosynthesis Photo: Pi-Fong Lu International research team including Göttingen University sequence whole genome of quillwort The quillwort is an aquatic plant belonging to an ancient lineage of vascular plants, meaning plants that have tissues to transport water, sap and nutrients. This lineage diverged from the other vascular plants more than 400 million years ago. A large international research team, including the University of Göttingen, have now sequenced the whole genome of this curious plant, uncovering the secrets of its unique method of photosynthesis, as well as shedding light on the different regulation and evolutionary history of photosynthesis in aquatic and terrestrial plants. Their research was published. The humble quillworts are a group of about 250 small, aquatic plants that, so far, have received little attention. While most plants in this family are smallish organisms, the fossil record shows that quillworts are the living relatives of now-extinct tree-sized lycopods, which formed large forests hundreds of millions of years ago. Hence, in evolutionary terms, these are of significant scientific interest.