<span>sperm and egg cells uniting to produce fertilized eggs</span>
Answer:
Bridgham et al. (2006) showed that the interaction between a steroid hormone (aldosterone-M) and its receptor (mineralocorticoid) evolved by Darwinian gradualism. In this work, the authors demonstrated a primitive affinity between the hormone and its receptor that was initially present in chemically similar but more ancient ligands. This result has implications in understanding the association between gene duplication and the evolution of hormone signaling pathways. For example, in invertebrates, this work reinforces the importance of gene duplication in the existing interaction between paralogous glucocorticoid receptors and their receptor mineralocorticoid genes that were derived from duplication (Thornton 2001).
The publications above cited are the following:
J.T. Bridgham, S.M. Carroll, and J.W. Thornton (2006). Evolution of hormone-receptor complexity by molecular exploitation. Science, 312(5770), 97-101.
JW Thornton. Evolution of vertebrate steroid receptors from an ancestral estrogen receptor by ligand exploitation and serial genome expansions, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (PNAS), 2001, vol. 98 10 (pg. 5671-5676).
One of the plants in this grouping are chrysanthemums.
Plants provide oxygen for the planet and organisms, food/nutrients, and habitats for animals
