The Silurian–Devonian terrestrial revolution saw the evolution of vascular plants with complex bodies comprising distinct roots, root-bearing organs, shoots, and leaves from morphologically simpler ancestors characterised by networks of undifferentiated axes (Bateman et al., 1998; Gensel and Edwards, 2001; Kenrick and Crane, 1997; Stewart and Rothwell, 1993; Xue et al., 2018). The 407-million-year-old, Pragian–?earliest Emsian, Early Devonian (Wellman, 2006) Rhynie chert fossil site provides a unique insight into the structure of plants during this key time in plant evolution. The Rhynie chert preserves an entire Early Devonian hot spring ecosystem, where plants, animals, fungi, and microbes are preserved in situ (Edwards et al., 2018; Garwood et al., 2020; Rice et al., 2002; Strullu-Derrien et al., 2019; Wellman, 2018). The exceptional preservation has been crucial for our understanding of early land plant evolution because it is the earliest time point in the fossil record where cellular details of rhizoid-based rooting systems, germinating spores, and fossilised meristems are preserved (Edwards, 2003; Hetherington and Dolan, 2018a; Hetherington and Dolan, 2018b; Kerp, 2018; Lyon, 1957; Taylor et al., 2005). Most of the detailed cellular information about these organisms comes from sectioned material. While the cellular detail that can be observed in these sections allows high-resolution reconstruction of tissue systems, the three-dimensional relationship between the cells, tissue, and organs is obscured. This makes generating accurate reconstructions of body plans difficult (Edwards, 2003; Kidston and Lang, 1921). Furthermore, reconstructions that have been published are based on combining material from thin sections from multiple individuals (Kidston and Lang, 1921). These sampling problems mean that key features of the body plans of these organisms are missing in reconstructions. This is particularly problematic for larger, more complex species in the Rhynie chert, such as the lycopsid Asteroxylon mackiei (Bhutta, 1969; Edwards, 2003; Edwards et al., 2018; Hetherington and Dolan, 2018a; Kerp, 2018; Kerp et al., 2013; Kidston and Lang, 1920; Kidston and Lang, 1921).

A. mackiei has been reconstructed as a plant that is approximately 30 cm high (Bhutta, 1969; Edwards, 2003), with highly branched shoot and rooting systems (Chaloner and MacDonald, 1980; Kerp, 2018; Kerp et al., 2013; Kidston and Lang, 1920; Kidston and Lang, 1921). It holds an important phylogenetic position for understanding root and leaf evolution in lycophytes because it is a member of the earliest diverging lineage of the lycopsids, the Drepanophycales (Kenrick and Crane, 1997), and both the rooting axes and leaves of A. mackiei developed some but not all defining characteristics of roots and leaves in more derived species (Bower, 1908; Hetherington and Dolan, 2018a; Kenrick, 2002; Kidston and Lang, 1920). However, the precise number of distinct axis types and their interconnection is still unclear (Bhutta, 1969; Kidston and Lang, 1920; Kidston and Lang, 1921). Without a complete understanding of the growth habit of A. mackiei, it is not possible to compare its structure with living lycopsids or other drepanophycalean lycopsids found in Devonian compression fossils. The drepanophycalean lycopsids are the earliest group of land plants in the fossil record with complex body plans comprising distinct rooting axes, root-bearing organs, and leafy shoots (Gensel et al., 2001; Gensel and Edwards, 2001; Hueber, 1992; Kenrick and Crane, 1997; Lang and Cookson, 1935; Matsunaga and Tomescu, 2016; Matsunaga and Tomescu, 2017; Stewart and Rothwell, 1993). Their evolution, radiation, and spread across all continents contributed to the transformation of the terrestrial environment through their impact on soil formation and stabilisation, surface hydrology, and silicate weathering (Algeo and Scheckler, 1998; Gibling and Davies, 2012; Matsunaga and Tomescu, 2016; Xue et al., 2016). Given the recognition of the importance of the drepanophycalean lycopsids in the evolution of complex body plans and changes to global nutrient and hydrological cycles, we generated a reconstruction of the 3D structure of A. mackiei based entirely on serial sections from complete specimens fossilised in situ.

Here we report the 3D reconstruction of A. mackiei based on both morphology and anatomy of two different plants. This reconstruction allowed us to define the 3D organisation of the three axis types of the A. mackiei body and to describe how the rooting system developed.

To discover the structure and infer the development of the lycopsid A. mackiei, we produced a series of 31 consecutive thick sections through a block of Rhynie chert that preserved a branched network of connected A. mackiei axes in situ (Figure 1—figure supplement 1, Figure 1—figure supplement 2). Using images of these thick sections, we digitally reconstructed the A. mackiei plant in a volume of 4.8 cm in length, 3.5 cm in width, and 2.8 cm in height (Figure 1A,B,G Video 1), which, to our knowledge, represents the largest evidence-based reconstruction for any Rhynie chert plant to date. We distinguished three distinct axis types in a single individual plant that we designate: leafy shoot axes, root-bearing axes, and rooting axes.

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Root-bearing axes

Root-bearing axes of A. mackiei were attached to leafy shoot axes at anisotomous branch points, where the thinner daughter axis developed as a root-bearing axis and the thicker daughter axis developed as a leafy shoot axis (Figures 1 and 2). Diameters of root-bearing axes were ca. 0.35 cm compared to leafy shoots axes typically over 0.6 cm. In one of the five examples (Figure 2A–C), the root-bearing axis was attached directly to the main leafy shoot axis. In the four other examples (Figure 2D–I), root-bearing axes were attached to side branches of the main leafy shoot. These branches were termed first-order leafy shoots because they were separated from the main shoot by a single branching event. Root-bearing axes attached to first-order leafy shoot axes close to where the latter attached to the main shoot. The branch arrangement where two adjacent anisotomous branches originate close to each other is termed k-branching (Chomicki et al., 2017; Edwards, 1994; Gensel et al., 2001; Gensel and Berry, 2001; Gerrienne, 1988; Matsunaga and Tomescu, 2016; Matsunaga and Tomescu, 2017). The root-bearing axes of the Drepanophycalean lycopsid Sengelia radicans (Matsunaga and Tomescu, 2016; Matsunaga and Tomescu, 2017) are attached to leafy shoot axes at k-branch points. In both A. mackiei and S. radicans, root-bearing axes developed an epidermis and cuticle with occasional stomata and scale leaves. In the root-bearing axes of A. mackiei where anatomy could be investigated the xylem strand was elliptical, not lobed as in leafy shoot axes, and there were few or no leaf traces, which distinguishes them from leafy shoots in which leaf traces were abundant (Figure 1E). Root-bearing axes were aligned with the gravity vector, indicating strong positive gravitropic growth (Figures 1A,B and 2). These differences in anatomy and morphology between root-bearing axes and leafy shoots demonstrate that root-bearing axes were a distinct axis type and not merely a transitional zone between two axis types as previously suggested (Bhutta, 1969; Kidston and Lang, 1920; Kidston and Lang, 1921). The apex of a root-bearing axis had not been described previously. We searched for apices on axes with the characters of root-bearing axes and discovered an isolated bifurcating axis with two apices (Figure 2J,K). The apices were assigned to A. mackiei because of the presence of leaves on the parent axis (Figure 2J, arrowheads) and a small leaf on the flank of the upper apex (Figure 2J,K), A. mackiei is the only Rhynie chert plant with leaves. Both apices were covered by an unbroken cuticle, and a single small leaf was present on the upper apex, which together demonstrate that these are apices of root-bearing axes and not apices of rooting axes that lack leaves and cuticles (Hetherington and Dolan, 2018a), or leafy shoots where the apex is covered by a large number of leaves (Edwards, 2003; Hueber, 1992; Kerp, 2018; Kerp et al., 2013). These apices were found in a single thin section that was not part of a set of serial sections and therefore it was not possible to reconstruct the apex in 3D. The root-bearing axes described here are similar to the axes described as either root-bearing axes (Matsunaga and Tomescu, 2016; Matsunaga and Tomescu, 2017) or rhizomes (Rayner, 1984; Schweitzer, 1980; Schweitzer and Giesen, 1980; Xu et al., 2013) in other members of the Drepanophycales. The occurrence of these root-bearing axes in A. mackiei and multiple other species highlights the conservation of body plans among members of the Drepanophycales.

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Rooting axes

A. mackiei rooting axes are similar to roots of extant lycopsids. However, they are designated rooting axes because they lack root hairs and their meristems lack a root cap and are consequently interpreted as transitional to the roots of extant plants (Hetherington and Dolan, 2018a; Hetherington and Dolan, 2019). These rooting axes include structures called rhizomes (Bhutta, 1969), small root-like rhizomes (Kidston and Lang, 1920; Kidston and Lang, 1921), and rooting axes (Hetherington and Dolan, 2018a; Hetherington and Dolan, 2019) of A. mackiei from previous descriptions of plant fragments. Rooting axes were always less than 2 mm in diameter and frequently less than 1 mm and were highly branched (Bhutta, 1969; Hetherington and Dolan, 2018a; Kidston and Lang, 1920; Kidston and Lang, 1921). Leaves, leaf traces, stomata, and cuticles were never found on rooting axes, even when the epidermis was well preserved (Kidston and Lang, 1920). The epidermis was frequently missing, suggesting that it was lost in older axes and the outer cortex was often limited to one or two cell layers (Figure 1F; Kidston and Lang, 1920). We found a single well-preserved highly branched rooting axis in our reconstruction (Figure 3A–F). This rooting axis was attached to a root-bearing axis at an anisotomous branch point (Figure 3C). There was a circular xylem strand at the centre of the rooting axis. The diameter of the rooting axis where it attached to the root-bearing axis was ca. 2 mm but decreased in size distally at successive branch points. Leaves, leaf traces, stomata, and cuticles were never observed on the rooting axis. The rooting axis was weakly gravitropic in contrast to the strong gravitropic growth observed in root-bearing axes (Figure 3A,E). The profuse branching of the rooting axis is evident with over four orders of branching preserved in less than 1 cm in our reconstruction (Figure 3E). We found no evidence that other axis types developed from the rooting axis. The morphological and anatomical boundary between the root-bearing axis and rooting axis was clear (Figure 3C); it involved the change from strong gravitropic growth to weak gravitropic growth, and the absence of scale leaves, stomata, and a well-marked cuticle all found on root-bearing axes but absent on rooting axes. This suggests that the boundary between the two axis types is defined at the point of branching and not in a continuum along a single axis. The rooting axis and its attachment to root-bearing axes described here correspond to the axes termed, roots (Matsunaga and Tomescu, 2016; Matsunaga and Tomescu, 2017; Schweitzer, 1980; Schweitzer and Giesen, 1980), root-like axes (Gensel et al., 2001; Rayner, 1984), and rootlets (Xu et al., 2013) in other members of the Drepanophycales. This suggests that the body plan of A. mackiei was similar to other members of the Drepanophycales.

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Our new reconstruction from serial thick sections through an individual A. mackiei plant demonstrates that the A. mackiei body plan consisted of three distinct axis types – leafy shoot axes, root-bearing axes, and rooting axes – each with characteristic anatomy and morphology.

Dichotomous origin of rooting axes

The rooting axes of A. mackiei hold a key position for interpreting the origin of roots in lycopsids because they were transitional between the ancestral rootless state and the derived state characterised by true roots with caps as found in extant lycopsids (Hetherington and Dolan, 2018a; Hetherington and Dolan, 2019). Our new reconstruction enables interpretation of these rooting axes and comparison with the rooting axes variously called roots, root-like axes, or rootlets in other members of the Drepanophycales that have been reported in the literature. Our reconstruction demonstrates that a number of characters are shared between the rooting axes of A. mackiei and rooting axes of other members of the Drepanophycales, including their attachment to root-bearing axes, weak gravitropic growth, and profuse dichotomous branching.

These shared characters suggest that the rooting system of A. mackiei was representative of the Drepanophycales and that inferences made with the exceptional preservation of A. mackiei can elucidate the characteristics of other members of the Drepanophycales that are preserved primarily as compression fossils. Our new reconstruction indicates that rooting axes connected to root-bearing axes at anisotomous branch points. Based on development of extant lycopsids (Bierhorst, 1971; Fujinami et al., 2021; Gola, 2014; Guttenberg, 1966; Harrison et al., 2007; Hetherington and Dolan, 2017; Imaichi, 2008; Imaichi and Kato, 1989; Ogura, 1972; Ollgaard, 1979; Spencer et al., 2021; Yi and Kato, 2001; Yin and Meicenheimer, 2017), there are two modes of branching that could produce anisotomous branch point morphology, endogenous branching, or dichotomous branching. Endogenous branching is the mode of branching where the meristem of the new axis develops from the internal tissues of the parent axis and breaks through the parent tissue to emerge, a mode of development typical of the initiation of roots of extant lycopsid species. Dichotomous branching is the mode of branching where the parent meristem splits in two to produce two daughter axes, a mode of development typical of roots, shoots, and rhizophores in extant lycopsids (Bierhorst, 1971; Bruchmann, 1874; Gola, 2014; Guttenberg, 1966; Harrison et al., 2007; Hetherington and Dolan, 2017; Imaichi, 2008; Imaichi and Kato, 1989; Ogura, 1972; Ollgaard, 1979; Spencer et al., 2021; Wigglesworth, 1907; Yi and Kato, 2001; Yin and Meicenheimer, 2017). To investigate which mode of development operated in A. mackiei, we examined anatomy of branch points.

If the rooting axes developed by endogenous branching from root-bearing axes, there would likely be a disruption to the tissues of the leafy shoot and evidence that the vascular trace of the root-bearing axes connected at right angles to the vascular trace of the leafy shoot (Bruchmann, 1874; Guttenberg, 1966; Imaichi, 2008; Ogura, 1972; Van Tieghem and Douliot, 1888; Wigglesworth, 1907; Yi and Kato, 2001). Our thick sections only provided a small organic connection between the two axes (Figure 3C) limiting our ability to investigate the anatomical changes associated with branching. We therefore searched other Rhynie chert collections for rooting axes attached to root-bearing axes at anisotomous branching points. We reinvestigated an example originally described as a branching rhizome by Bhutta, 1969. The presence of scale leaves, a small number of leaf traces, and clear epidermis and cuticle on the main axis suggested that it was a root-bearing axis. Attached to this root-bearing axis was a smaller axis that we interpret as a rooting axis because of its rounded xylem, poorly preserved epidermis and the lack of both cuticle and root cap (Figure 4, Figure 4—figure supplement 1). We produced a 3D reconstruction of the anisotomous branch point that connects the two axes based on 119 peels (Figure 4, Video 2). Tissues were continuous between the root-bearing axis and rooting axis. The vascular trace for the rooting axis was seen to branch off and then run parallel to the main vascular trace before gradually arcing into the rooting axis (Figure 4). These characteristics, especially the dichotomy of the vascular trace, suggest that rooting axes developed from root-bearing axes by dichotomous branching.

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While branching evidence in our reconstruction is consistent with the development of rooting axes from root-bearing axes by dichotomy, we tested if there was evidence for endogenous development because roots originate endogenously in extant lycopsids. Therefore, we searched for meristems of rooting axes preserved soon after they originated from root-bearing axes. We identified two fossilised A. mackiei meristems on a single thin section. This thin section preserves a large A. mackiei leafy shoot axis ca. 5 mm in diameter with stellate xylem cut in transverse section at the top of the image (Figure 5A, green arrowhead). Attached to the leafy shoot axis is a smaller root-bearing axis ca. 1.9 mm in diameter close to the attachment with the leafy shoot. This axis is identified as a root-bearing axis by the presence of a small scale leaf (Figure 5A, blue arrowhead, B), and its orientation aligned with the gravity vector based on a geopetally infilled void (Figure 5—figure supplement 1). Close to the base of the thin section are two apices on either side of the root-bearing axis (Figure 5A, white arrowheads). We interpret these as meristems because of their domed structure and the large number of small cells close to the apices. Given the attachment of these meristems to root-bearing axes and their small size, we interpret them as meristems of rooting axes. Cellular organisation of the promeristems (Figure 5C–E, Figure 5—figure supplement 2) is poorly preserved compared to other meristems we described (Hetherington and Dolan, 2018a), but the overall organisation including cell files running from the central vascular trace, and a cuticle covering the apices can be clearly recognised. There is no root cap as previously reported for rooting axes (Hetherington and Dolan, 2018a). Cell files are continuous between the root-bearing axes and rooting axes, and there is no evidence that the rooting axes initiated by endogenous branching and broke through the ground or dermal tissues of the root-bearing axes. The organisation of cells in these meristems is consistent with our hypothesis based on 3D reconstructed anatomy that the rooting axes developed by dichotomous branching from root-bearing axes.

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We discovered that A. mackiei rooting axes originate by dichotomous branching. Furthermore, the branch connecting rooting axes and root-bearing axes was always anisotomous. This finding is significant because roots do not originate by dichotomy in extant lycopsids. Instead, roots of extant lycopsids originate endogenously from shoots, rhizophores, and rhizomorphs (Bruchmann, 1874; Guttenberg, 1966; Hetherington and Dolan, 2017; Imaichi, 2008; Imaichi and Kato, 1989; Ogura, 1972; Yi and Kato, 2001), and in rare cases by exogenous development in embryos, protocorms, or tubers where dichotomous branching does not occur (Bower, 1908; Hetherington and Dolan, 2017). The origin of A. mackiei rooting axes by anisotomous dichotomy was therefore different from the origin of roots in extant lycopsids, and this developmental mechanism is now extinct (Figure 6).

Figure 6

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Specimen accession code abbreviations: Forschungsstelle für Paläobotanik, Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany; Pb. The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, GLAHM. Natural History Museum, London, NHMUK.

Fossil preparations described in this study are housed in the A. Bhutta collection at the University of Cardiff, UK. Forschungsstelle für Paläobotanik, Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany. The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, UK and the Natural History Museum, London, UK. Photographs of the series of thick sections and peels used to create 3D reconstructions of A. mackiei have been deposited on Zenodo (http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4287297). All other data supporting the findings of this study are included in the paper.

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Author details

1. Alexander J Hetherington

   Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

   Present address

   Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

   Contribution

   Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Supervision, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Writing - original draft, Writing - review and editing

   For correspondence

   sandy.hetherington@ed.ac.uk

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

   "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-1687-818X

2. Siobhán L Bridson

   Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

   Contribution

   Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing - review and editing

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

3. Anna Lee Jones

   1. Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
   2. Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

   Present address

   Oxford Long-term Ecology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

   Contribution

   Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing - review and editing

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

4. Hagen Hass

   Research Group for Palaeobotany, Institute for Geology and Palaeontology, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany

   Contribution

   Resources, Methodology

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

5. Hans Kerp

   Research Group for Palaeobotany, Institute for Geology and Palaeontology, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany

   Contribution

   Resources, Data curation, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Writing - review and editing

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

6. Liam Dolan

   Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

   Present address

   Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology GmbH, Vienna, Austria

   Contribution

   Conceptualization, Supervision, Funding acquisition, Writing - original draft, Writing - review and editing

   For correspondence

   liam.dolan@gmi.oeaw.ac.at

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

   "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-1206-7096

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