The project “Evolution of Sexual Reproduction in Plants” (EVOREPRO – www.evorepro.org) will deliver the first comprehensive view of the molecular evolution of plant sexual reproduction and will provide insights into the origins of double fertilization in plants.

Together with six cooperation partners from Europe and the US, our aim is to generate an EVOREPRO database comprising RNA-Seq data across eight plant species with a focus on reproductive tissues. These data are used to generate co-expression networks, in order to uncover new conserved sets of genes relevant for gamete development in land plants.

Our team is acting as project coordinator and has generated transcriptome data of Arabidopsis and the early divergent land plant Physcomitrella patens for the database. Beyond this we are unravelling changes in the transcriptome and epitome of Physcomitrella to gain insight into the extent and functionality of epigenetic mechanisms acting specifically during gametogenesis and sporogenesis.