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.

47
Vertebrate limbs are homologous.

48
Are bird and bat WINGS homologous?

lazybirder.blogspot.com http://www.fs.fed.us

No, they are homoplasious.

49
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
57