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Abstract Detail



Recent Topics Posters

Mishler, Brent [1], Brinda, John [2], Ekwealor, Jenna [3], Caswell-Levy, Caleb [4], Jauregui Lazo, Javier [5], Nosratinia, Sonia [6], Silva, AndersoN [7], Oliver, Melvin [8].

A global phylogeny for the dryland moss clade Syntrichia.

Syntrichia is a diverse genus of mosses containing about 80-100 named species, occurring worldwide in dryland habitats and demonstrating an unusual amount of variation in ecology and reproductive biology among close relatives.  Its species occur in habitats ranging from mesic alpine meadows, to tree trunks and boulders in mid-elevation forests, and to late-successional desert biocrusts.  This genus is one of the most ecologically dominant groups of mosses in dryland habitats of the world.             The goal of this study was to understand the higher-level relationships of the genus.  We addressed the following questions: (1) What exactly is Syntrichia?  (2) What are its closest relatives?  (3) What are the major clades within Syntrichia?  (4) What is the biogeographic history of this clade?  (5) What are the major trends in morphological evolution in relation to habitat?   This study is not focused on fine-scale phylogenetic relationships and species concepts -- our group is pursuing those questions separately.
We took a next-gen genome skimming approach to sequence total DNA extractions for 416 field-collected samples from around the world (almost all from herbarium specimens).  We chose samples to represent the full morphological variation and currently accepted species in the genus.  For this backbone phylogeny, we selected a small set of loci that are known to be single-copy and have had considerable use in moss phylogenetic studies, including chloroplast rbcl, rps4, and rps4-trnS intergenic spacer; mitochondrial nad5; and nuclear rDNA region (including both ITS regions) from de novo genome assemblies for each sample.  We also mined Genbank for these loci for Syntrichia plus outgroups.  Many other loci were represented in our genome-skimming data, which we will include in the finer-scale phylogenetic analyses to come.
Phylogenetic analysis proceeded in two steps using an ML approach: (1) we analyzed each locus separately to look for incongruence among the gene trees; (2) we combined all loci into a total evidence matrix along with corresponding morphological characters.  The resulting backbone phylogeny was then used for biogeographic analysis, examining evolutionary trends in morphology, relating functional traits to habitats, and phylogenetic classification.
Results include: (1) discovery of a well-supported clade corresponding to the S. ruralis complex (which remains a taxonomic mess internally); (2) presence of a larger Northern Hemisphere clade than contains the S. ruralis complex, S. caninervis, and others; (3) this clade may represent a relatively recent dispersal to the Northern Hemisphere followed by an extensive radiation in ecology and morphology.


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Related Links:
Desiccation & Diversity in Dryland Mosses - A collaborative project supported by the US National Science Foundation through the Dimensions in Biodiversity Program


1 - University Of California, Berkeley, Department Of Integrative Biology, University And Jepson Herbaria, 1001 Valley Life Sciences Building, # 2465, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
2 - Missouri Botanical Garden, PO Box 299, St. Louis, MO, 63166, USA
3 - University of California, Berkeley, Integrative Biology, 2441 Haste St, Berkeley, CA, 94704, USA
4 - University of California, Berkeley, Integrative Biology, 1001 Valley Life Sciences, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
5 - University of California Berkeley, Integrative Biology, 4156 Vallley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
6 - University of California, Berkeley, University and Jepson Herbaria, Berkeley, CA, 94720-2465, USA
7 - University of Missouri, Columbia, Plant Sciences, 214 Curtis Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
8 - USDA-ARS, Plant Genetics Research Unit, 206 Curtis Hall,, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

Keywords:
none specified

Presentation Type:
Session: P, Recent Topics Posters
Location: Arizona Ballroom/Starr Pass
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2019
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PRT025
Abstract ID:1402
Candidate for Awards:None


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