Taller plants have lower rates of molecular evolution

Robert Lanfear (), Simon Y. W. Ho, T. Jonathan Davies, Angela T. Moles, Lonnie Aarssen, Nathan G. Swenson, Laura Warman, Amy E. Zanne and Andrew P. Allen
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Robert Lanfear: Ecology, Evolution, and Genetics, Research School of Biology, Building 116 Daley Road, Australian National University
Simon Y. W. Ho: School of Biological Sciences, Edgeworth David Building, University of Sydney
T. Jonathan Davies: 1205 Avenue Docteur Penfield, McGill University
Angela T. Moles: Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales
Lonnie Aarssen: Queen’s University
Nathan G. Swenson: 612 Wilson Road, Michigan State University
Laura Warman: Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales
Amy E. Zanne: 2023 G St. NW, George Washington University
Andrew P. Allen: Macquarie University

Nature Communications, 2013, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Rates of molecular evolution have a central role in our understanding of many aspects of species’ biology. However, the causes of variation in rates of molecular evolution remain poorly understood, particularly in plants. Here we show that height accounts for about one-fifth of the among-lineage rate variation in the chloroplast and nuclear genomes of plants. This relationship holds across 138 families of flowering plants, and when accounting for variation in species richness, temperature, ultraviolet radiation, latitude and growth form. Our observations can be explained by a link between height and rates of genome copying in plants, and we propose a mechanistic hypothesis to account for this—the ‘rate of mitosis’ hypothesis. This hypothesis has the potential to explain many disparate observations about rates of molecular evolution across the tree of life. Our results have implications for understanding the evolutionary history and future of plant lineages in a changing world.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2836

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