Toward a phylogenomic classification of magnoliids.

Premise: Magnoliids are a strongly supported clade of angiosperms. Previous phylogenetic studies based primarily on analyses of a limited number of mostly plastid markers have led to the current classification of magnoliids into four orders and 18 families. However, uncertainty remains regarding the placement of several families.

Truly the best of both worlds: Merging lineage-specific and universal probe kits to maximize phylogenomic inference.

Premise: Hybridization capture kits are now commonly used for reduced representation approaches in genomic sequencing, with both universal and clade-specific kits available. Here, we present a probe kit targeting 799 low-copy genes for the plant family Annonaceae.

Methods: This new version of the kit combines the original 469 genes from the previous Annonaceae kit with 334 genes from the universal Angiosperms353 kit.

Plant use and perceptions in the context of sexual health among people of Congolese descent in Belgium.

Background: The use of medicinal plants is integral to global healthcare systems, with Sub-Saharan Africa maintaining a robust tradition of herbal medicine alongside Western-oriented healthcare. As migrant communities tend to continue traditional herbal practices after migration, documenting this use is vital to develop culturally sensitive healthcare. This study investigates plant usage and perspectives in the context of sexual and reproductive health among the Congolese community in Belgium, particularly in the Matongé quarter of Brussels.

A Bird's Eye View of the Systematics of Convolvulaceae: Novel Insights From Nuclear Genomic Data.

Convolvulaceae is a family of c. 2,000 species, distributed across 60 currently recognized genera. It includes species of high economic importance, such as the crop sweet potato ( L.

The evolutionary history of the Caribbean magnolias (Magnoliaceae): Testing species delimitations and biogeographical hypotheses using molecular data.

The Caribbean islands provide an ideal setting for studying biodiversity, given their complex geological and environmental history, and their historical and current geographical proximity to the American mainland. Magnolia, a flagship tree genus that has 15 endemic and threatened taxa (12 species and 3 subspecies) on the Caribbean islands, offers an excellent case study to empirically test Caribbean biogeographical hypotheses. We constructed phylogenetic hypotheses to: (1) reveal their evolutionary history, (2) test the current largely morphology-based classification and assess species limits, and (3) investigate major biogeographic hypotheses proposed for the region.

Chromosome-level reference genome of the soursop (Annona muricata): A new resource for Magnoliid research and tropical pomology.

The flowering plant family Annonaceae includes important commercially grown tropical crops, but development of promising species is hindered by a lack of genomic resources to build breeding programs. Annonaceae are part of the magnoliids, an ancient lineage of angiosperms for which evolutionary relationships with other major clades remain unclear. To provide resources to breeders and evolutionary researchers, we report a chromosome-level genome assembly of the soursop (Annona muricata).

Twelve new and exciting Annonaceae from the Neotropics.

As a result of concerted efforts of the community of Annonaceae taxonomists, increasingly detailed knowledge of the diversity of the Neotropical genera has been documented. With the exception of just two large genera, and , all Neotropical Annonaceae have been revised within the last 25 years. Subsequent to these publications, many new specimens have been collected and sent to us in Leiden for identification.

A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical genus (Annonaceae), including five new species.

We present a taxonomic revision of , a genus of Neotropical Annonaceae occurring in lowland to premontane wet forest, mostly in areas surrounding the Andean mountain chain. We recognise 34 species, describing five as new here: from east of the Andes, Pirie & Chatrou, and Pirie & Maas, , endemic to Peru; Pirie, , from southern Peru and adjacent Bolivia and Brazil; and Pirie & Chatrou, , at higher elevations in northern Peru and Ecuador; and from west of the Andes, Pirie & Chatrou, endemic to Costa Rica, the most northerly distributed species of the genus. We provide an identification key, document diagnostic characters and distributions and provide illustrations and extensive lists of specimens, also presenting the latter in the form of mapping data with embedded links to images available online.

Floral evolution by simplification in Monanthotaxis (Annonaceae) and hypotheses for pollination system shifts.

Simplification by reduction has occurred many times independently in the floral evolution of angiosperms. These reductions have often been attributed to changes in reproductive biology. In the angiosperm plant family Annonaceae, most species have flowers with six petals, and many stamens and carpels.

Parallel diversifications of and (Annonaceae), tropical rainforest trees tracking Neogene upheaval of South America.

Much of the immense present day biological diversity of Neotropical rainforests originated from the Miocene onwards, a period of geological and ecological upheaval in South America. We assess the impact of the Andean orogeny, drainage of Lake Pebas and closure of the Panama isthmus on two clades of tropical trees (, 31 spp.; and , 14 spp.

A linear sequence to facilitate curation of herbarium specimens of Annonaceae.

This paper provides a linear sequence of four subfamilies, 15 tribes and 106 genera of the magnoliid family Annonaceae, based on state-of-the-art and stable phylogenetic relationships. The linear sequence facilitates the organisation of Annonaceae herbarium specimens.

Phylogenomics and evolution of floral traits in the Neotropical tribe Malmeeae (Annonaceae).

Androdioecy is the rarest sexual system among plants. The majority of androdioecious species are herbaceous plants that have evolved from dioecious ancestors. Nevertheless, some woody and androdioecious plants have hermaphrodite ancestors, as in the Annonaceae, where androdioecious genera have arisen several times in different lineages.

Anatolian origins and diversification of Aethionema, the sister lineage of the core Brassicaceae.

Premise Of The Study: The Irano-Turanian region harbors three biodiversity hotspots and ∼25% of Brassicaceae species are endemic to the region. Aethionema (∼61 species) is the sister lineage to the core Brassicaceae and occurs mainly in the Irano-Turanian region. The evolutionary important position of Aethionema makes it an ideal reference for broader comparative genetics and genomics.

Correlated evolutionary rates across genomic compartments in Annonaceae.

The molecular clock hypothesis is an important concept in biology. Deviations from a constant rate of nucleotide substitution have been found widely among lineages, genomes, genes and individual sites. Phylogenetic research can accommodate for these differences in applying specific models of evolution.

A nonet of novel species of (Annonaceae) from around Africa.

As part of an ongoing revision of the genus Baill. (Annonaceae), nine new species are described and one variety is reinstated to species rank. Two new species from West Africa ( P.

Recently evolved diversity and convergent radiations of rainforest mahoganies (Meliaceae) shed new light on the origins of rainforest hyperdiversity.

Tropical rainforest hyperdiversity is often suggested to have evolved over a long time-span (the 'museum' model), but there is also evidence for recent rainforest radiations. The mahoganies (Meliaceae) are a prominent plant group in lowland tropical rainforests world-wide but also occur in all other tropical ecosystems. We investigated whether rainforest diversity in Meliaceae has accumulated over a long time or has more recently evolved.

Phylogenetics, ancestral state reconstruction, and a new infrafamilial classification of the pantropical Ochnaceae (Medusagynaceae, Ochnaceae s.str., Quiinaceae) based on five DNA regions.

Ochnaceae s.str. (Malpighiales) are a pantropical family of about 500 species and 27 genera of almost exclusively woody plants.

A plastid DNA phylogeny of tribe Miliuseae: insights into relationships and character evolution in one of the most recalcitrant major clades of Annonaceae.

Premise Of The Study: Tribe Miliuseae (∼25 genera and ∼510 species) includes a substantial part of the species and generic diversity in the pantropical flowering-plant family Annonaceae (∼108 genera and ∼2400 species). Previous molecular phylogenetic analyses have failed to resolve the backbone phylogeny of the tribe, impeding biogeographical and evolutionary studies. We use a dense generic taxon sample (∼89% of generic diversity in Miliuseae) and plastid DNA sequence data (∼7 kb) to clarify the phylogenetic relationships of and within the tribe.

Little ecological divergence associated with speciation in two African rain forest tree genera.

Background: The tropical rain forests (TRF) of Africa are the second largest block of this biome after the Amazon and exhibit high levels of plant endemism and diversity. Two main hypotheses have been advanced to explain speciation processes that have led to this high level of biodiversity: allopatric speciation linked to geographic isolation and ecological speciation linked to ecological gradients. Both these hypotheses rely on ecology: in the former conservation of ecological niches through time is implied, while in the latter adaptation via selection to alternative ecological niches would be a prerequisite.

Insights into the influence of priors in posterior mapping of discrete morphological characters: a case study in Annonaceae.

Background: Posterior mapping is an increasingly popular hierarchical Bayesian based method used to infer character histories and reconstruct ancestral states at nodes of molecular phylogenies, notably of morphological characters. As for all Bayesian analyses specification of prior values is an integrative and important part of the analysis. He we provide an example of how alternative prior choices can seriously influence results and mislead interpretations.

Flanking regions of monomorphic microsatellite loci provide a new source of data for plant species-level phylogenetics.

Well-resolved phylogenetic trees are essential for us to understand evolutionary processes at the level of species. The degree of species-level resolution in the plant phylogenetic literature is poor, however, largely due to the dearth of sufficiently variable molecular markers. Unlike the common genic approach to marker development, we generated DNA sequences of monomorphic nuclear microsatellite flanking regions in a phylogenetic study of Annona species (Annonaceae).

Molecular phylogenetics reveal multiple tertiary vicariance origins of the African rain forest trees.

Background: Tropical rain forests are the most diverse terrestrial ecosystems on the planet. How this diversity evolved remains largely unexplained. In Africa, rain forests are situated in two geographically isolated regions: the West-Central Guineo-Congolian region and the coastal and montane regions of East Africa.

Diversification of myco-heterotrophic angiosperms: evidence from Burmanniaceae.

Background: Myco-heterotrophy evolved independently several times during angiosperm evolution. Although many species of myco-heterotrophic plants are highly endemic and long-distance dispersal seems unlikely, some genera are widely dispersed and have pantropical distributions, often with large disjunctions. Traditionally this has been interpreted as evidence for an old age of these taxa.