A call to unite in the study of land plant ancestors

In the last decade, advances in tools for decoding genetic material have allowed scientists around the world to make fascinating discoveries about plant evolution, especially regarding the mechanisms that the first land plants inherited from their freshwater algal ancestors. In fact, many traits we associate with land plants today, such as the ability to cope with stress or grow in 3D, began developing in these ancestors long before plants arrived on land.

Currently, research goes beyond merely sequencing the genomes of these algae. Scientists are now exploring how these genes function and contribute to the algae's survival and biology. In the manuscript published in Current Biology, the CBGP researcher and his international colleagues describe and highlight the collaborative efforts that are helping to uncover the deep evolutionary history of plant life on Earth.

The Streptophyte Algae workshop as a starting point

The published text builds on work initiated several years ago by the authors, Jorge and Vanessa Polet, along with their department head, Dolf Weijers. Together, they gathered the world’s leading researchers in this field in Wageningen, the Netherlands, for what would later become known as the 'Streptophyte Algae Workshop.' This meeting laid the foundation on which many of today’s community working groups are built, and the published text is a direct result of those pioneering efforts. It not only highlights current advances, future needs, and possible paths for continued collaboration, but also showcases key questions and topics that could be explored through the study of Streptophyte algae

An invitation to expand horizons

The streptophyte algae community remains relatively small compared to the broader plant biology field and is composed primarily of classical phycologists focused on isolation, description, taxonomy, and, in some cases, physiology. In recent years, they have been joined by a growing number of genomicists working on sequencing new species, as well as plant molecular biologists interested in evolutionary processes who apply tools from genetics and biochemistry. The standardization of protocols, methods, and algal strains, similar to what has occurred in other fields, is helping to attract more researchers. The statement published in Current Biology serves as an open invitation for other plant and evolutionary biologists to join and collaborate in the study of land plant ancestors.