The 'magic potion' behind trees: scientists discover protein that let plants conquer land 470 million years ago

When you look at a patch of moss growing in a quiet corner of your garden, it might seem like nothing more than a simple green carpet.

But beneath this really simple, unsuspecting appearance lies a molecular secret that could explain one of life's greatest growths and secret that how plants first conquered land over 470 million years ago!

And can you imagine, a protein is behind this massive civilisation of plants continuing for millions of years.

The ‘magic potion’ behind the civilisation of trees!

Scientists have discovered a special protein in the moss that may hold the key to understanding how plants evolved from flat, threadlike mats into the three-dimensional trees, shrubs, and flowers that cover our landscapes today.


The discovery, led by researchers from the University of Copenhagen, gives a peek into the evolutionary innovations that allowed plant ancestors to divide cells differently, build specific shapes, and reach for sunlight when they first moved from water to land.


Interestingly, without this necessary adaptation, our world would look dramatically different, without any towering forests, blooming gardens, or non- fruit-bearing plants.

A protein that combines two jobs into one

RAK1 is a unique protein that joins two ancient cell systems normally separate in most life forms. One part acts like a MAP kinase, a signal switch that tells proteins when to turn processes on or off in response to stress, signs of growth, and environmental changes. The other part acts like a NATD enzyme, which adds tiny acetyl tags to proteins that can alter how they behave and affect the proteins that help package DNA. When histones change, gene activity changes too.


Moss shows how plants evolved three-dimensional growth
Young mosses begin as a flat, threadlike mat, then some cells change direction and form small leafy shoots. This change from flat growth to upward growth is a sign of a major event in Earth's history when plant ancestors moved onto land about 470 million years ago.


They needed new ways to divide cells, build shape, and reach light. "Without the ability to grow in three dimensions, the landscape would look very different," said Thomas Juel Ammitsøe, postdoctoral researcher. "We would not see trees and shrubs grow the way they do today. Life on land would likely have remained much more limited"

Moss without RAK1 struggles to grow properly

To test RAK1's importance, scientists removed it from moss plants. The plants still grew, but they spread outward instead of producing many leafy shoots. The trouble began in buds, small structures that initiate three-dimensional growth.

"We observed that cells in the moss lacking RAK1 did not divide properly and formed defective buds," said Cloe De Luxan Hernandez, assistant professor. In normal moss, bud cells divide in a careful pattern, but without RAK1, many cells divided in the wrong direction, and several buds failed to mature. This shows RAK1 was crucial for helping the plant to grow efficiently.

So, how exactly does it function overall?

The two parts of this protein work together and affect each other. This makes scientists wonder if similar connections might exist in other living things, even when the proteins are separate instead of fused together.

Rodriguez, an author from the study, explained that just like human stem cells need careful control of their energy and metabolism to grow and divide, moss stem cells need the same thing.


Evolution somehow figured out how to combine two different molecular systems into one protein, and this clever solution may be the reason plants could grow into trees, flowers, and all the green life we see around us today.