Evolution and Adaptations of Plants to the Environment

The course aims at providing the students with basic knowledge to understand the evolutionary acquisitions of land plants and how the development of plants occurs, starting from fertilization and formation of an embryo to post-embryonic development, vegetative (roots, leaves) and reproductive (inflorescences and flowers) structures. The course will explore the genetic and molecular basis, through analysis of phylogenetic trees, of the processes of acquiring cell and organ identity and will be based on examples from model species. Diversity and homologies in the developmental processes of land plants will be explored, in the context of the evolution of various forms and adaptations.

By the end of the course, the student will have acquired fundamental notions governing plant development from Bryophytes to vascular plants and the most important genetic/molecular mechanisms that have been behind the differentiation of major organs or tissues. The student will also be able to discuss this knowledge in an evolutionary context and to point out the differences between developmental processes and evolutionary novelties acquired by land plants.