Create your own conference schedule! Click here for full instructions

Abstract Detail



Recent Topics Posters

Morris, Sarah [1], Pérez-Escobar, Oscar  [2], Antonelli, Alexandre [3], Klitgaard, Bente [4], Carlsen, Monica [5], Zuluaga-Trochez, Alejandro [6], Dodsworth, Steven [7], Maurin, Olivier [8], Brewer, Grace [9], Cowan, Robyn [9], Lucas, Eve [10], Leitch, Ilia [11], Forest, Felix [12], Baker, William [13].

The origin and diversification of the hyper-diverse flora of the Chocó biogeographic region.

Ever since Humboldt explored South America at the turn of the 18–19th century, there has been a strong research interest on the origin of the Neotropical flora. The Andes, Amazonia, and Brazil’s Cerrado have received most of the focus thus far while other important regions are overlooked. The understudied Chocó biogeographic region in the north-western Pacific coast of South America is the 5th most biodiverse hotspot on Earth and contains 3% of all plant species despite occupying only 0.2% of Earth’s land surface. Alwyn Gentry proposed a northern Andean-Central American Pleistocene origin for the Chocoan flora, but these assumptions remain untested. To address these hypotheses, we produced phylogenies from Sanger and high-throughput sequence data of representative Chocoan plant lineages. We used the Angiosperm353 bait kit (Johnson et al., 2018) and genome skimming to generate sequences of plastid and 353 nuclear loci of the Neotropical Anthurium (Araceae) and Blakea (Melastomataceae), both with centers of endemism in the Chocó. We further compiled three plastid and nuclear loci of the most species-rich Neotropical orchid lineages Cymbidieae and Pleurothallidinae that are also well represented in the Chocó. We used the Angiosperm353 kit for DNA sequence capture, successfully enriching 50-333 nuclear genes and recovering 93 plastid loci in 64 species of Anthurium. Species-tree coalescence analyses of 216 nuclear gene trees revealed extensive incongruence near the MRCA of Anthurium. Molecular dating and biogeographical analyses of the plastid phylogeny revealed multiple migrations from central-northern Andes, Amazonia and Central America starting around 9 million years ago and peaking in the Pleistocene. Similar dispersal patterns were revealed in the Cymbidieae and Pleurothallidinae, with migrations as young as the mid-Pleistocene. Our results support Gentry’s hypothesis on the mode and tempo of evolution of the Chocó, but also indicate that migrations from distant areas contributed to the floristic diversification in the region. The extremely recent origins of the plant lineages studied are probably linked with the recent origin of terrestrial biomes in the Chocó, which in turn is related to the complex geological history of the region.


Log in to add this item to your schedule

1 - 785 Suwannee Ct NE, Saint Petersburg, FL, 33702, United States
2 - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Identification and Naming Department, Richmond, Surrey, TW93AE, UK
3 - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Science, Richmond, Surrey, TW93AE, UK
4 - Department Of Herbarium, Library, Arts & Archives, Richmond, Surrey, TW93AB, United Kingdom
5 - Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, United States
6 - 430 Lincoln Drive, UWisconsin-Department Of Botany, Madison, WI, 53706, United States
7 - University of Bedfordshire, School of Life Sciences, Luton, LU13JU, UK
8 - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Richmond, Surrey, TW93AE, UK
9 - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW93AE, UK
10 - Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Herbarium, Kew Green, 9 Mowbray Road, Richmond, TW9 3AE, United Kingdom
11 - Jordell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, SRY, TW9-3AB, United Kingdom
12 - Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3DS, United Kingdom
13 - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Jodrell Laboratory, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3DS, UK

Keywords:
Historical Biogeography
molecular dating
phylogenomics
aroids
melastomes
orchids
Anthurium.

Presentation Type:
Session: P, Recent Topics Posters
Location: Arizona Ballroom/Starr Pass
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2019
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PRT003
Abstract ID:1347
Candidate for Awards:None


Copyright © 2000-2019, Botanical Society of America. All rights reserved