This symposium was the first to focus on the genetic and epigenetic regulation of signaling and development in plant reproduction from an evolutionary perspective, including various morphological comparisons. A focus was on the evolution of pollen, carpels, ovules, fertilization mechanisms, multicellular embryos and endosperm as well as seeds and fruits. The event, which took place from 25th to 28th March 2025 in Berlin, was attended by 101 scientists showcasing the impressive diversity of emerging model organisms spanning major land plant lineages, allowing research into plant reproduction beyond the well-established model plants and crops. This focus included cross-lineage comparisons of reproductive systems and co-evolution of signaling pathways and gene regulatory networks.
The species studied included the bryophytes Marchantia polymorpha (a liverwort), Anthoceros agrestis (a hornwort), and Physcomitrium patens (a moss); the fern Ceratopteris richardii; the gymnosperms Ginkgo biloba and Cycas revoluta, but also diverse angiosperms such as Eschscholzia californica, Cannabis sativa, Phlox longifolia, and Torenia crustacea and of course model plants such as Arabidopsis and maize. These comparisons were used, for example, by William Friedmann (Harvard University, USA) to discuss the origin of the endosperm and by Madelaine Bartlett (Cambridge University, UK) to report on sex determination, which is highly complex in the grasses. Furthermore, bioinformatics tools have been described that are being developed to facilitate comparative analyses of gene regulatory networks and signaling pathways.
Regulatory processes seem to be older than previously thought
It became evident that many signaling pathways and gene regulatory modules are more ancient than the traits they specify. Additionally, the frequently held view that gymnosperms are too difficult for experimental approaches was challenged: Tetsuya Higashiyama and Yukiho Toyama (both University of Tokyo, Japan), for example, reported about chemotactic behavior and evolution of male reproductive cells in Cycas revoluta, while Silvia Moschin (University of Padova, Italy) aims to elucidate pollen-ovule cross-talk in Ginkgo biloba.
In conclusion, this event marked the first symposium organized by the DFG Research Unit Innovation and Coevolution of Plant Sexual Reproduction (ICIPS, FOR 5098) and provided a platform for ICIPS researchers and other participants to present and discuss their data with international experts. It brought together plant scientists from diverse parts of the world (from Europe to the USA, Japan and China), and from diverse fields, including cell biology, developmental biology, comparative morphology, bioinformatics, and molecular evolution, to collaboratively explore the origin and evolution of the fascinatingly complex process of plant sexual reproduction.
Best science posters and talks awarded
Thanks to the generous sponsoring of the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) two prizes for the best posters were awarded to Camille Salaün (Max Planck Institute, Potsdam, Germany) and Nicholas Desnoyer (University of Zürich, Switzerland). The award for the best PhD talk went to Melanie Trupp (University of Osnabrück, Germany). Three travel grants were awarded to Siwei Pang (Justus Liebig University Gießen), Nicola Babolin (University of Milan, Italy) and Emanuela Talarico (University of Calabria, Italy).
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Prof. Dr. Annette Becker, Dr. Romain Scalone, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Institut für Botanik, AG Entwicklungsbiologie der Pflanzen