Lecture outline

1
Lecture outline

• Course outline/grading
• 2. Mechanisms of evolution (a review)
• 3. Plant evolution overview

2
BIOL415 - Plant Evolution
Meets 1030-1130 am, Tues Thurs, Neville
Scarfe 204 Section A 900-1000 am, Fri,
BioSci 2361 Section B 10-11 am, Fri, Social
Work Jack Bell Bldg 223 Instructors Kay
Hodgins, BioSci 1350, 604-822-2960,
kayhodgins_at_zoology.ubc.ca Nolan Kane, BioSci
1129, 778-991-5422, nkane_at_interchange.ubc.ca TA
Brook Moyers, BioSci 1129, brook.moyers_at_gmail.c
om Office hours by appointment
3
BIOL415 - Plant Evolution Goals and Format
Goals (1) To gain a better understanding of how
plants evolve (2) To make the transition from
textbook learning to learning from the scientific
literature. We believe in total immersion, so
there will be no textbook for this class. All
readings will be from refereed journal
publications. To ease the transition, we will
employ a lecture/discussion format and focus on
high-profile and well-written case studies of
important topics in plant evolution Class
format Lectures followed by class discussions of
papers pertaining to each topic. There will be on
average 3 scientific articles per week to read,
summarize and discuss in class
4
BIOL415 - Plant Evolution Expectations
Preparation. The success of discussions depends
largely on the preparation of the participants.
To ensure the this, and especially to allow time
for integration and synthesis before class, each
of you should provide (at the beginning of class)
a list of 3 to 6 salient points from each
reading. Such points could include a. New
advances / Importance to the field b.
Interesting approaches c. Potential Flaws (e.g.
problems with the experimental design or
aspects of the analysis and interpretation)
d. Further directions e. Connections to
prior readings Each summary should be no more
than one page double spaced. Print out and hand
in at the beginning of class
5
How to Critique Scientific Papers

• If you choose to write a critique, then you
  might follow the "Guidelines for Reviewers" of
  manuscripts submitted for publication in the
  journals of the Ecological Society of America.
• COMMENTS FOR THE AUTHORS - What is the major
  contribution of the paper? What are its major
  strengths and weaknesses? Please include both
  general and specific comments bearing on these
  questions, and EMPHASIZE your most significant
  points.
• GENERAL
• importance and interest to Ecologists (or
  Evolutionary Biologists for this class)
• scientific soundness
• originality
• organization and clarity
• cohesiveness of argument
• degree to which conclusions are supported by the
  data
• length relative to the number of new ideas and
  information
• conciseness and writing style

6
BIOL415 - Plant Evolution Expectations
Experiments. Propose two experiments that
ought to be done to advance our understanding of
evolution. (Ideally these would be experiments
that you would be tempted to carry out, but this
is not a requirement.) For each explain a)
The question (as well as hypothesis and
predictions) b) Why it is important in the
context of what else is known c) The
appropriate methodology d) List one or more
appropriate organisms (and explain why you chose
it or them). These proposals will be 3-5
pages in length (double spaces 12pt font). You
will be asked to summarize one of these
experiments for the class in the last few classes
of the semester.
7
Grading
Grades will be based on preparedness as
evidenced by tri-weekly summaries (30)
participation in class (20) proposed
experiments (50) - 1st experiment (20)
and 2nd experiment (20) - presentation
(10) There will be no exams or other papers.
Summaries and class participation will be graded
as acceptable or unacceptable. However, you will
have the opportunity to revise unacceptable
summaries. There will be a 10 penalty for each
day an assignment is late or awaiting revision.
8
Topics
The evolution of populations Topic Lecturer
Migration Kay Hodgins Adaptation
Kay Hodgins Mating system evolution Kay
Hodgins Coevolution/plant animal Kay
Hodgins interactions Weed evolution Katrina
Dlugosch
9
Topics
Species and speciation Topic Lecturer Natur
e of plant species/ Brook Moyers species
concepts Reproductive isolation Brook
Moyers Chromosomal speciation Nolan Kane Hybrid
speciation Loren Rieseberg Polyploid
speciation Nolan Kane Macroevolution Nolan
Kane
10
Topics
Evolution and development Topic Lecturer Pl
ant domestication Nolan Kane Evolution of
flowers Kay Hodgins Evolutionary genomics and
phylogeny Plant phylogeny Kay
Hodgins Paleopolyploidy Nolan Kane Nuclear
genome evolution Nolan Kane Molecular signal of
adaptation Nolan Kane Organelle genome
evolution Nolan Kane Horizontal gene
transfer Kay Hodgins
11
Mechanisms of evolution (a review) Definitions
Biological Evolution the change over time in the
genotypic composition of populations Microevolut
ion changes that occur over a small number of
generations Macroevolution changes that happen
over many generations Population a group of
organisms of the same species occupying a
particular geographic region. Genotype the
genetic make-up of an organism. Phenotype the
physical expression of an individuals phenotype.
(selection acts on phenotype not genotype)
12
Changing the genotypic composition of
populations
Evolutionary agents forces that change allele
and genotypic frequencies in populations
mutation gene flow genetic drift natural
selection
13
Evolutionary agents mutation
Mutation random changes in genetic material.
Mutation is ultimate source of all genetic
variation. Mutation rates are low (one in a
million per generation in typical genes).
http//evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article
14
Evolutionary agents Gene flow
Gene Flow migration of individuals followed by
breeding produces gene flow. Gene flow adds new
alleles to populations or changes the frequency
of alleles already present.
http//evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article
15
Evolutionary agents Genetic drift
Genetic drift In each generation, some
individuals may, just by chance, leave behind a
few more descendants (and genes, of course!) than
other individuals.
http//evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article
16
Evolutionary agents Genetic drift
Genetic drift Results in reduction of variation
within populations
http//evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article
17
Evolutionary agents Natural selection
Natural selection Individuals vary in traits
that lead to differential reproduction.
http//evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article
18
Definitions (to aid with the reading for
Wednesday)
Conspecific of the same species Effective
population size the number of breeding
individuals in an idealized population Inbreeding
depression reduced fitness as a result of
breeding of related individuals. Outbreeding
depression reduced fitness as a result of
breeding of distantly related individuals.
19
What are plants?
they are multicellular during part of their life
they are eukaryotic they have chloroplasts
with chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b and carotenoids
as photosynthetic pigments they have cell walls
with cellulose, a complex carbohydrate
20
Plant Evolution
21
Why Study Plant Evolution
Plant Evolution
22
Why Study Plant Evolution
Plant Evolution
23
Why Study Plant Evolution
Plant Evolution
24
Liverworts the simplest land plants
25
Why Study Plant Evolution
Plant Evolution
26
Angiosperms complex seed plants

• Cuticle
• Vasculature
• 3. Leaves
• 4. Seeds
• 5. Flowers