The gradual transition of the algal ancestor from the freshwater to land has always attracted evolutionary biologists. The recent report of high-quality reference genomes of five Charophyta algae (Spirogloea muscicola, Mesotaenium endlicherianum, Mesostigma viride, Chlorokybus atmophyticus and Penium margaritaceum) and one hornwort (Anthoceros angustus) species sheds light on this fascinating transition. These early diverging plants and algae could have gained new genes from soil bacteria and fungi through horizontal gene transfer (HGT), which was so common during plant terrestrialization and may outrun our expectations. Through reviewing and critical thinking about the advancements on these plant genomes, here, I propose three prospective research directions that need to address in the future: (i) due to the ubiquitous nature of viruses that is similar to soil bacteria and fungi, there is less attention to viruses that probably also play an important role in the genome evolution of plants via HGT; (ii) multicellularity has occurred many times independently, but we still know a little about the biological and ecological mechanisms leading to multi-cellularity in Streptophyta; (iii) and most importantly, the quantitative relationships between genetic innovations and environmental variables such as temperature, precipitation and solar radiation, need pioneering research collaborated by biological evolutionists, computer scientists, and ecologists, which are crucial for understanding the macroevolution of plants and could also be used to simulate the evolution of plants under future climate change.

藻类祖先从淡水到陆地的逐渐过渡一直吸引着进化生物学家。近五年轮藻门的藻类的高品质参考基因组的报告（Spirogloea muscicola，Mesotaenium endlicherianum，Mesostigma绿色木霉，Chlorokybus atmophyticus和Penium margaritaceum）和金鱼藻一个（角苔属angustus）物种为这一迷人的过渡提供了启示。这些早期分化的植物和藻类可能通过水平基因转移（HGT）从土壤细菌和真菌中获得了新基因，而水平基因转移在植物陆地化过程中非常普遍，可能超出了我们的预期。通过回顾和批判性思考这些植物基因组的进展，在此，我提出了未来需要解决的三个前瞻性研究方向：（i）由于与土壤细菌和真菌相似的病毒无处不在，较少关注可能通过HGT在植物基因组进化中起重要作用的病毒；（ii）多细胞性独立发生过许多次，但我们对导致链球菌多细胞性的生物学和生态学机制仍知之甚少；