Introduction to Systematics
why study plants?
get 1/4 sheet of paper and write your answers.
happy first 5pts. :)
Why study plants?
oxygen producing
primary producers
economically important to humans
Why study plants?
economically important to humans
agricultural plants (foods) : vegetables, fruits, seeds
flavoring plants: herbs and spices
euphoric/ hallucinogenic plants
fiber/ wood plants
medicinal plants
plant extracts: essential oils, gums, rubber, etc.
what is systematics?
inclusive of taxonomy
goal is to infer evolutionary history
(phylogeny)
using ALL types of evidences
what is (biological)
evolution?
descent with
modification
involves descent
through genetic
inheritance
Descent results in a lineage
(clade)!!!!
Lineage or clade -
sequence of
ancestors (parents)
and descendants
(offspring)
involves transfer of
DNA through space
and time
what is modified?
the genetic
material: DNA
(deoxyribonuclei
c acid)
two mechanisms of evolutionary
change
natural selection - non-random,
directed by survivorship and
reproductive ability
genetic drift - random, directed by
chance events
What is a functional feature that results in
increased survivorship and reproductive ability?
ADAPTATION
taxonomy
DINC
description
identification
nomenclature
classification
Description
Assignment/listing of features or attributes to a taxon
character
= a feature
e.g., flower color
character states
= two or more forms of a character
e.g., white, red, yellow
Identification
Associating an unknown taxon with a known one
How?
taxonomic key
compare to a photograph/illustration
compare to a specimen
ask an expert
Key (dichotomous/
indented)
1. Stamens fused at base into a tube ............... Dichelostemma
1' Stamens not fused at base into a tube
Lead: 2. Fertile stamens ...................................................... 3
Lead: 2' Fertile stamens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . .. . . . . . . . 6
3. Stamens strongly winged at base ...................... Bloomeria
3' Stamens not strongly winged at base ................ Muilla
Couplet = two Leads
Key (dichotomous/
indented)
1 Ovary inferior
2 Ovule 1 per carpel ............................................................................... Dilatris
2 Ovules 2 or more per carpel
3 Ovules 2 per carpel .....................................................................Haemodorum
3' Ovules 5-7 per carpel .................................................................. Lachnanthes
1 Ovary superior
4 Perianth actinomorphic; ovules per carpel ............................................ Xiphidium
4 Perianth zygomorphic; ovules 1-4 per carpel
5 Fertile stamen1...................................................................Pyrrorhiza
5 Fertile stamens 3
6 Stamens unequal, the two latero-posterior reduced; ovules 3-4 per carpel .... Schiekia
6' Stamens equal; ovule 1 per carpel
7 Inflorescence a raceme; functional carpel 1; style subterminal .............Barberetta
7' Inflorescence a thyrse; functional carpels 3; style terminal .. Wachendorfia
Nomenclature
Formal means of naming life.
E.g., binomial nomenclature for species names:
For Oryza sativa L.
Oryza = genus name
sativa = specific epithet
Oryza sativa = species name
Linnaeus = author of species name
Classification
= placing objects, e.g., life, into some type of order.
Taxon = a taxonomic group (plural = taxa)
= a specific example of a category
Rank Classification
Hierarchical - each higher rank is inclusive of lower ranks
Rank ]Example Ending
Phylum Magnoliophyta -phyta
Class Liliopsida -opsida
Order Liliales -ales
Family Liliaceae -aceae
Genus Lilium
Species Lilium parryi
how to classify life?
Phenetic classification
Based on overall similarity
Those organisms most similar to one another are classified
more closely together.
limitation of phenetic
classification..
Can be arbitrary,
e.g., classify these:
phylogenetic
classification
Based on known (inferred) evolutionary history.
Advantage:
Classification reflects pattern of evolution
Classification not ambiguous
all of life is connected by descent.
Split, from one lineage into two?
Evolutionary divergence.
>Can lead to speciation - origin of new species from pre-existing
species
Pre-existing feature?
Plesiomorphy (ancestral feature)
New feature?
Apomorphy (derived feature)
apomorphy
= derived (new) feature, e.g.,
sporophyll --------> carpel
(ancestral feature) (apomorphy)
Presence of carpels - an apomorphy
for flowering plants.
Autapomorphy?
Apomorphy for a single lineage
Synapomorphy?
Apomorphy for two or more lineages
taxa are grouped by
apomorphies.
Apomorphies are the result of evolution.
Taxa sharing apomorphies underwent same evolutionary history,
should be grouped together.
common ancestry
Evolutionary Relationships
Relationship
recency of common ancestry
i.e., taxa sharing a common ancestor
more recent in time are more closely related
than those sharing common ancestors more
distant in time.
What is a monophyletic group?
a group consisting of:
a common ancestor +
all descendants of that common ancestor
Example:
Are fish more closely related to sharks or to humans?
Major goal in systematics today:
Recognize only monophyletic groups
Polyphyletic group
Group with more than one common ancestor.
(Common ancestor of components of group is not a member of the group.)
Group consisting of B, C, E, & F is polyphyletic:
two common ancestors
Paraphyletic group
Consist of common ancestor but not all descendants
Dicots
paraphyletic!
Features that defined traditional
Dicots (two cotyledons in embryo
seed) are primitive (not
apomorphies)
Monocots
monophyletic
What is homology?
Similarity due to common ancestry
Intra-individual homology?
Similarity by common ancestry of features within an
individual, e.g., carpels and leaves (common
ancestry by genes)
What is homoplasy?
Similarity not by common ancestry.
Types?
Convergence - independent evolution of a similar
feature in 2 or more lineages.
Reversal - loss of a derived feature with re-
establishment of ancestral feature.
Convergence - Stem succulence and spines in
Cactaceae and Euphorbia spp.
Reversal - Loss of perianth in Lemna, Wolffia.
How is homology assessed?
Beware of terminology!
Similarly termed features may not be homologous!
Look carefully at structure, position, development.
E.g., spines of cacti & euphorbs differ in position and development:
leaf spines vs. stipular spines
Hypotheses of homology are tested in
cladistic analysis
euphorb spines cactus spines
Convergent evolution:
spines of cacti & euphorbs
Homology vs. Homoplasy
Homology is any Homoplasy occurs
similarity between when characters are
characters that is similar, but are not
due to their shared derived from a
ancestry common ancestor.
Homoplasy often results from convergent evolution.
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Vertebrate limbs are homologous.
48
Are bird and bat WINGS homologous?
lazybirder.blogspot.com http://www.fs.fed.us
No, they are homoplasious.
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Primary tenet of phylogenetic systematics
Taxa (O.T.U.s operationl taxonomic units) can be
grouped by apomorphies, because these
represent unique evolutionary events.
Recency of common ancestry
Premise: All forms of life share a common ancestor.
Taxa which share a common ancestor more recent
in time are more closely related to one another
than they are to a taxon whose common ancestor is
further back in time.
Major goal in systematics today:
Recognize only monophyletic groups
Polyphyletic and paraphyletic groups distort
evolutionary history, should not be recognized.
Molecular Systematics
Most widely used technique:
Determine AA sequences in proteins
nucleotides in nucleic acid sequences
Analysis of NA sequences provides powerful data for
understanding evolutionary relationships
non-coding sequences provide nearly neutral
markers that reflect past evolutionary events
NA sequences from many species have been
determined and placed in data banks
Detailed comparisons among taxa can be done
Analysis of small subunit rRNA provided the first
evidence that the living world is divided into 3 major
domains - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya 53
54
http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/fox/protype.htm
Molecular Data different from data
traditionally obtained:
easy to quantify
potentially provide more characters for
phylogenetic analysis
allow comparison of organisms that are
morphologically very different
possible to compare organisms at the most
basic level: gene
Drawback:
Can rarely be obtained from fossils and
homologies are sometimes very difficult 55
to assess.
Why study systematics?
Foundation of biology
Integrative, unifying science
Practical value - economically important plants
Conservation biology -rare/endangered spp.
Intellectually challenging / fun
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