The Selaginella Genome Identifies Genetic Changes Associated with the Evolution of Vascular Plants

Vascular plants appeared ~410 million years ago, then diverged into several lineages of which only two survive: the euphyllophytes (ferns and seed plants) and the lycophytes. We report here the genome sequence of the lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii (Selaginella), the first nonseed vascular plant genome reported. By comparing gene content in evolutionarily diverse taxa, we found that the transition from a gametophyte- to a sporophyte-dominated life cycle required far fewer new genes than the transition from a nonseed vascular to a flowering plant, whereas secondary metabolic genes expanded extensively and in parallel in the lycophyte and angiosperm lineages. Selaginella differs in posttranscriptional gene…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: 922742, 519970, 1020443, 844413, 607123, 421604, 735191, 228660, 1020660, 1036466, 744800, 515435, 638595
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy

  Awards: DE?AC02?05CH11231, DE-FG02-04ER15542
• UD
  U.S. Department of Agriculture

  Awards: NRI 2007-35318-18389, DE-FG02-08ER64630
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: GM065383, T32 GM007757, T32-HG00035, GM84051
• NH
  National Human Genome Research Institute

  Award: HG004164