Editing Convergent evolution (section)

== In plants ==

[[File:Chelidonium majus seeds.jpg|thumb|right|In [[myrmecochory]], seeds such as those of ''[[Chelidonium majus]]'' have a hard coating and an attached oil body, an [[elaiosome]], for dispersal by ants.]]

=== The annual life-cycle ===

While most plant species are [[Perennial plant|perennial]], about 6% follow an [[Annual plant|annual]] life cycle, living for only one growing season.<ref name="Poppenwimer 2023">{{Cite journal |last1=Poppenwimer |first1=Tyler |last2=Mayrose |first2=Itay |last3=DeMalach |first3=Niv |date=December 2023 |title=Revising the global biogeography of annual and perennial plants |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=624 |issue=7990 |pages=109–114 |doi=10.1038/s41586-023-06644-x |pmid=37938778 |pmc=10830411 |arxiv=2304.13101 |bibcode=2023Natur.624..109P |s2cid=260332117 |issn=1476-4687}}</ref> The annual life cycle independently emerged in over 120 plant families of angiosperms.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Friedman |first=Jannice |date=2020-11-02 |title=The Evolution of Annual and Perennial Plant Life Histories: Ecological Correlates and Genetic Mechanisms |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110218-024638 |journal=Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics |language=en |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=461–481 |doi=10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110218-024638 |s2cid=225237602 |issn=1543-592X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hjertaas |first1=Ane C. |last2=Preston |first2=Jill C. |last3=Kainulainen |first3=Kent |last4=Humphreys |first4=Aelys M. |last5=Fjellheim |first5=Siri |date=2023 |title=Convergent evolution of the annual life history syndrome from perennial ancestors |journal=Frontiers in Plant Science |volume=13 |doi=10.3389/fpls.2022.1048656 |pmid=36684797 |issn=1664-462X |doi-access=free |pmc=9846227 }}</ref> The prevalence of annual species increases under hot-dry summer conditions in the four species-rich families of annuals ([[Asteraceae]], [[Brassicaceae]], [[Fabaceae]], and [[Poaceae]]), indicating that the annual life cycle is adaptive.<ref name="Poppenwimer 2023"/><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Boyko |first1=James D. |last2=Hagen |first2=Eric R. |last3=Beaulieu |first3=Jeremy M. |last4=Vasconcelos |first4=Thais |date=November 2023 |title=The evolutionary responses of life-history strategies to climatic variability in flowering plants |journal=New Phytologist |volume=240 |issue=4 |pages=1587–1600 |doi=10.1111/nph.18971 |issn=0028-646X|doi-access=free |pmid=37194450 }}</ref>

===Carbon fixation===

[[C4 photosynthesis|C<sub>4</sub> photosynthesis]], one of the three major carbon-fixing biochemical processes, has [[Evolutionary history of plants#Evolution of photosynthetic pathways|arisen independently up to 40 times]].<ref name="williamsjohnston">{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=B. P. |author2=Johnston, I. G. |author3=Covshoff, S. |author4=Hibberd, J. M.  | title=Phenotypic landscape inference reveals multiple evolutionary paths to C4 photosynthesis | journal=eLife | volume=2 |pages=e00961 |date=September 2013 |doi=10.7554/eLife.00961 |pmid=24082995 |pmc=3786385 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=Osborne2006>{{cite journal |last1=Osborne |first1=C. P. |author2=Beerling, D. J. |author-link2=David Beerling |year=2006 |title=Nature's green revolution: the remarkable evolutionary rise of {{C4}} plants |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=361 |issue=1465 |pages=173–194 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2005.1737 |pmid=16553316 |pmc=1626541}}</ref> About 7,600 plant species of [[angiosperm]]s use {{c4}} carbon fixation, with many [[monocot]]s including 46% of grasses such as [[Zea mays|maize]] and [[sugar cane]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Sage |first=Rowan |author2=Russell Monson |title=C4 Plant Biology |year=1999 |pages=551–580 |chapter=16 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-12-614440-6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H7Wv9ZImW-QC&pg=PA551}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhu |first1=X. G. |author2=Long, S. P. |author3=Ort, D. R. |title=What is the maximum efficiency with which photosynthesis can convert solar energy into biomass? |year=2008 |journal=Current Opinion in Biotechnology |volume=19 |pages=153–159 |doi=10.1016/j.copbio.2008.02.004 |pmid=18374559 |issue=2 |url=https://naldc-legacy.nal.usda.gov/naldc/download.xhtml?id=36097&content=PDF |access-date=2018-12-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401014953/https://naldc-legacy.nal.usda.gov/naldc/download.xhtml?id=36097&content=PDF |archive-date=2019-04-01 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[dicot]]s including several species in the [[Chenopodiaceae]] and the [[Amaranthaceae]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sage |first=Rowan |author2=Russell Monson |title=C4 Plant Biology |year=1999 |pages=228–229 |chapter=7 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-12-614440-6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H7Wv9ZImW-QC&pg=PA228}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kadereit |first1=G. |author2=Borsch, T. |author3=Weising, K. |author4=Freitag, H |title=Phylogeny of Amaranthaceae and Chenopodiaceae and the Evolution of {{C4}} Photosynthesis |year=2003 |journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences |volume=164 |issue=6 |pages=959–86 |doi=10.1086/378649|s2cid=83564261 }}</ref>

=== Fruits ===

[[Fruit]]s with a wide variety of structural origins have converged to become edible. [[Apple]]s are [[pome]]s with five [[carpel]]s; their accessory tissues form the apple's core, surrounded by structures from outside the botanical fruit, the [[receptacle (botany)|receptacle]] or [[hypanthium]]. Other edible fruits include other plant tissues;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ireland |first1=Hilary, S. |display-authors=etal |title=Apple SEPALLATA1/2 -like genes control fruit flesh development and ripening|journal=The Plant Journal |date=2013 |volume=73 |issue=6 |pages=1044–1056 |doi=10.1111/tpj.12094 |pmid=23236986 |doi-access=free }}</ref> the fleshy part of a [[tomato]] is the walls of the [[pericarp]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Heuvelink |first=Ep |title=Tomatoes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qwMnnepN3uIC&pg=PA72 |year=2005 |publisher=CABI |isbn=978-1-84593-149-0 |page=72 |access-date=2016-12-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401051807/https://books.google.com/books?id=qwMnnepN3uIC&pg=PA72 |archive-date=2019-04-01 |url-status=live }}</ref> This implies convergent evolution under selective pressure, in this case the competition for [[seed dispersal]] by animals through consumption of fleshy fruits.<ref name="evolution_seed">{{cite journal |last1=Lorts |first1=C. |author2=Briggeman, T. |author3=Sang, T.  |title=Evolution of fruit types and seed dispersal: A phylogenetic and ecological snapshot <!--http://www.sciencemeta.com/index.php/JSE/article/view/1580606--> |journal=Journal of Systematics and Evolution |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=396–404 |year=2008 |doi=10.3724/SP.J.1002.2008.08039 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |url=http://www.plantsystematics.com/qikan/manage/wenzhang/jse08039.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718025713/http://www.plantsystematics.com/qikan/manage/wenzhang/jse08039.pdf |archive-date=2013-07-18}}</ref>

Seed dispersal by ants ([[myrmecochory]]) has evolved independently more than 100 times, and is present in more than 11,000 plant species. It is one of the most dramatic examples of convergent evolution in biology.<ref name="myrmecochory">{{cite journal |last1=Lengyel |first1=S. |author2=Gove, A. D. |author3=Latimer, A. M. |author4=Majer, J. D. |author5=Dunn, R. R. |title=Convergent evolution of seed dispersal by ants, and phylogeny and biogeography in flowering plants: a global survey |journal=Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics |volume=12 |pages=43–55 |year=2010 |issue=1 |doi=10.1016/j.ppees.2009.08.001|bibcode=2010PPEES..12...43L }}</ref>

=== Carnivory ===

[[File:Chitinase4TC.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Molecular convergence in [[carnivorous plant]]s]]

[[Carnivorous plant|Carnivory]] has evolved multiple times independently in plants in widely separated groups. In three species studied, ''[[Cephalotus|Cephalotus follicularis]]'', ''[[Nepenthes alata]]'' and ''[[Sarracenia purpurea]]'', there has been convergence at the molecular level. Carnivorous plants secrete [[enzymes]] into the digestive fluid they produce. By studying [[Purple acid phosphatases|phosphatase]], [[Glycoside hydrolase family 19|glycoside hydrolase]], [[glucanase]], [[RNASET2|RNAse]] and [[chitinase]] [[enzyme]]s as well as a [[pathogenesis-related protein]] and a [[thaumatin]]-related protein,  the authors found many convergent [[amino acid]] substitutions. These changes were not at the enzymes' catalytic sites, but rather on the exposed surfaces of the proteins, where they might interact with other components of the cell or the digestive fluid. The authors also found that [[homologous gene]]s in the non-carnivorous plant ''[[Arabidopsis thaliana]]'' tend to have their expression increased when the plant is stressed, leading the authors to suggest that stress-responsive proteins have often been co-opted{{efn|The prior existence of suitable structures has been called [[pre-adaptation]] or [[exaptation]].}} in the repeated evolution of carnivory.<ref name=Fukushima2017>{{cite journal |last1=Fukushima |first1=K |last2=Fang |first2=X |display-authors=etal |title=Genome of the pitcher plant Cephalotus reveals genetic changes associated with carnivory |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |date=2017 |volume=1 |issue=3 |doi=10.1038/s41559-016-0059 |pmid=28812732 |doi-access=free |page=0059|bibcode=2017NatEE...1...59F }}</ref>