Abstract Detail

Systematics

Liu, Michelle [1], Finch, Evan [1], Leatherman, Lila [1], Douglas, Norman [2], Flores, Hilda [3], Ochoterena, Helga [4], Moore, Michael [5].

Understanding the Evolution of Gypsum Endemism using Target Enrichment.

The Chihuahuan Desert is a region in the southwestern USA and northern Mexico notable for having over 200 species of plants that grow only on gypsum soils, a nutrient that is poor in essential nutrients and difficult for most plant species to grow in. However, the evolution of gypsum endemism for these gypsum-loving plants is poorly understood. The Moore lab has worked to understand the phylogeny of evolution of the major gypsum endemic plant lineas of the Chihuahuan Desert, but in some cases, sequences of traditional chloroplast and nuclear loci have not yielded a clear resolution of the phylogenetic relationships among gypsum endemic plant species. Here, we are working on three plant groups that are notable for their affinity for gypsum and contain multiple origins of gypsophily: the genus Anulocaulis (Nyctaginacae) that consists of 5 different species, two of which are restricted to gypsum; the genus Acleisanthes (Nyctaginacae), that consists of 16 different species, 6 of which are endemic to gypsum; and Asteraceae subtribe Flaverinae, which consists of three different genera (Flaveria, Haploësthes, and Sartwellia) with at least three different origins of gypsum endemism. We wish to reconstruct a more resolved phylogeny of these three plant groups, so in order to do so, we enriched over 300 nuclear genes and assembled them using custom baits and the HybPiper bioinformatics pipeline, resulting in exon and partial intron sequences from the high throughput sequencing reads. The resulting phylogeny will be used to better understand and resolve the origin and evolution of gypsum endemism in these groups.

1 - Oberlin College, Department of Biology, 119 Woodland Street, Oberlin, OH, 44074, USA
2 - University Of Florida, Biology, PO Box 118525, Gainesville, FL, 32611, United States
3 - Instituto De Biologia, UNAM, Departamento de Botanica, Apdo.Postal 70-367, Coyoacan, Mexico, DF, 04510, Mexico
4 - Instituto De Biología, UNAM, Botanica, Depto Botánica-Apdo.Postal 70-367, Coyoacan, Mexico DF, 04510, Mexico
5 - Oberlin College, Department Of Biology, 119 Woodland St., Science Center K111, Oberlin, OH, 44074, United States

Keywords:
Gypsum
phylogeny
Nyctaginaceae
Asteraceae
Chihuahuan Desert
Target Enrichment.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Systematics Posters
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Thursday, July 30th, 2020
Time: 5:00 PM Time and date to be determined
Number: PSY010
Abstract ID:304
Candidate for Awards:None