Abstract
Aquatic plants are phylogenetically well dispersed across the angiosperms. Reproductive and other life-history traits of aquatic angiosperms are closely associated with specific growth forms. Hydrophilous pollination exhibits notable examples of convergent evolution in angiosperm reproductive structures, and hydrophiles exhibit great diversity in sexual system. In this study, we reconstructed ancestral characters of aquatic lineages based on the phylogeny of aquatic angiosperms. Our aim is to find the correlations of life form, pollination mode and sexual system in aquatic angiosperms. Hydrophily is the adaptive evolution of completely submersed angiosperms to aquatic habitats. Hydroautogamy and maleflower-ephydrophily are the transitional stages from anemophily and entomophily to hydrophily. True hydrophily occurs in 18 submersed angiosperm genera, which is associated with an unusually high incidence of unisexual flowers. All marine angiosperms are submersed, hydrophilous species. This study would help us understand the evolution of hydrophilous pollination and its correlations with life form and sexual system.
Highlights
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments
True hydrophily occurs in 18 submersed angiosperm genera, which exhibit great diversity in sexual system [3]
We explored the evolutionary transitions of life forms, pollination modes and sexual systems in aquatic angiosperms using Mesquite v.2.74 [11]
Summary
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). These plants require special adaptations for living submersed in water, or at the water surface [1, 2]. Vascular aquatic plants are interpreted as all Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta whose photosynthetically active parts are submersed in water or float on the surface of water [1]. Aquatic plants are phylogenetically well dispersed across the angiosperms, with at least 50. Aquatic plants are typically discussed as a unified biological group, the ways that species have evolved to live in the aquatic environment are as diverse as the different evolutionary lineages that became aquatic [4, 5]
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