News From the Field
Why Some Grasses Evolved a More Efficient Photosynthesis and Others Didn't

December 24, 2012

Two groups, or clades, of grasses that once had a common ancestry diverged, ultimately leaving the PACMAD clade more predisposed to evolve a more efficient "C4" means of photosynthesis when carbon dioxide is restricted than grasses in the BEP clade. In a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a Brown University-led team pinpoints the anatomical differences between the clades that led to the PACMAD's tendency toward C4. Full Story

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Brown University

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