Phylogenetic Tree Comparison

Rubisco Phylogenetic Tree

Phylogenetic Tree based on pollen morphology

Pollen Morphology of a daisy, primrose and delphinium.

       We decided that the delphinium and the daisy have the most common ancestor because their pollen is most similar in shape and size. The pollen of the primrose is triangular shaped and smoother than the others therefore, being the least related to delphinium and daisy. 

Analysis of phylogenetic trees:
 Our trees differed. Based on pollen morphology we concluded that the delphinium and the daisy pollen had the most common ancestor. However, after comparing the flowers Rubisco protein sequences we determined that the daisy and the primrose have a more recent ancestor than the delphinium. We believe that the phylogenetic tree based on protein sequences is more accurate than our pollen morphology tree. This is most likely because the pollen of the daisy and delphinium (the most similar based on pollen morphology) could have converged to look a certain way because of their surroundings and pollinators, while genetically they were the least similar. I also noticed that the phylogenetic tree based on the protein sequence shows when the plants derived and that gives us insight on how the pollen could have adapted over time. After reviewing the differences between the trees, we can admit that the protein based tree is more accurate than our pollen morphology tree.