Abstract Detail

IAPT Early Career Investigator Program: Life at the Edge

Moore, Abigail [1], Monaghan, Leann [2], Ahedor, Adjoa [3].

From salt marshes to sky islands, phylogenetics of North American Grindelia (Asteraceae).

Grindelia (Asteraceae) occurs in dry, open habitats throughout the Americas. The genus as a whole has an amphitropical disjunction between reciprocally monophyletic North American and South American clades. The North American clade contains approximately 40 species, which are found throughout the western two-thirds of the continent, in grasslands, shrublands, and areas with saline or serpentine soils. The Rocky Mountains appear to have been a substantial geographic barrier for North American Grindelia, with distinct clades distributed west and east of the mountains. However, a few species occur in openings in mountain forests throughout the southern part of the Rockies and ranges to the south and west. Convergent ecological adaptation to montane habitats, as well as saline soils and areas with varying degrees of drought, has occurred in each of the major clades, sometimes multiple times. We are using transcriptome sequencing to understand ecological evolution in North American Grindelia and to determine when and how often the different habitats were colonized. In addition, we are looking at whether hybridization with plants that were already adapted to those habitats helped other species colonize them later, and on the influence of polyploidization on ecological diversification.

1 - University Of Oklahoma, Department Of Microbiology And Plant Biology, 770 Van Vleet Oval, Rm. 208, Norman, OK, 73019, United States
2 - University of Oklahoma, Microbiology and Plant Biology Department, 770 Van Vleet Oval, Rm 208, Norman, OK, 73019, United States
3 - Rose State College, Engineering And Science Division, 6420 S.E. 15th Street, Midwest CIty, OK, 73110, United States

Keywords:
Grindelia
Asteraceae
phylogenomics
evolution
edaphic.

Presentation Type:
Session: SYM6, IAPT Early Career Investigator Program: Life at the Edge
Location: Tucson E/Starr Pass
Date: Wednesday, July 31st, 2019
Time: 9:30 AM
Number: SYM6003
Abstract ID:205
Candidate for Awards:None