A highly contiguous, scaffold-level nuclear genome assembly for the fever tree ( Vahl) as a novel resource for Rubiaceae research.

The Andean fever tree ( L.; Rubiaceae) is a source of bioactive quinine alkaloids used to treat malaria. Vahl is a valuable cash crop within its native range in northwestern South America, however, genomic resources are lacking.

A comparative genomics examination of desiccation tolerance and sensitivity in two sister grass species.

Desiccation tolerance is an ancient and complex trait that spans all major lineages of life on earth. Although important in the evolution of land plants, the mechanisms that underlay this complex trait are poorly understood, especially for vegetative desiccation tolerance (VDT). The lack of suitable closely related plant models that offer a direct contrast between desiccation tolerance and sensitivity has hampered progress.

A taxonomic, genetic and ecological data resource for the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland.

The vascular flora of Britain and Ireland is among the most extensively studied in the world, but the current knowledge base is fragmentary, with taxonomic, ecological and genetic information scattered across different resources. Here we present the first comprehensive data repository of native and alien species optimized for fast and easy online access for ecological, evolutionary and conservation analyses. The inventory is based on the most recent reference flora of Britain and Ireland, with taxon names linked to unique Kew taxon identifiers and DNA barcode data.

The nature of intraspecific and interspecific genome size variation in taxonomically complex eyebrights.

Background And Aims: Genome size varies considerably across the diversity of plant life. Although genome size is, by definition, affected by genetic presence/absence variants, which are ubiquitous in population sequencing studies, genome size is often treated as an intrinsic property of a species. Here, we studied intra- and interspecific genome size variation in taxonomically complex British eyebrights (Euphrasia, Orobanchaceae).

Low dispersal and ploidy differences in a grass maintain photosynthetic diversity despite gene flow and habitat overlap.

Geographical isolation facilitates the emergence of distinct phenotypes within a single species, but reproductive barriers or selection are needed to maintain the polymorphism after secondary contact. Here, we explore the processes that maintain intraspecific variation of C photosynthesis, a complex trait that results from the combined action of multiple genes. The grass Alloteropsis semialata includes C and non-C populations, which have coexisted as a polyploid series for more than 1 million years in the miombo woodlands of Africa.

The Application of Flow Cytometry for Estimating Genome Size, Ploidy Level Endopolyploidy, and Reproductive Modes in Plants.

Over the years, the amount of DNA in a nucleus (genome size) has been estimated using a variety of methods, but increasingly, flow cytometry (FCM) has become the method of choice. The popularity of this technique lies in the ease of sample preparation and in the large number of particles (i.e.

Contrasted histories of organelle and nuclear genomes underlying physiological diversification in a grass species.

C photosynthesis evolved multiple times independently in angiosperms, but most origins are relatively old so that the early events linked to photosynthetic diversification are blurred. The grass is an exception, as this species encompasses C and non-C populations. Using phylogenomics and population genomics, we infer the history of dispersal and secondary gene flow before, during and after photosynthetic divergence in .

Genome-wide association mapping of date palm fruit traits.

Date palms (Phoenix dactylifera) are an important fruit crop of arid regions of the Middle East and North Africa. Despite its importance, few genomic resources exist for date palms, hampering evolutionary genomic studies of this perennial species. Here we report an improved long-read genome assembly for P.

A Target Capture-Based Method to Estimate Ploidy From Herbarium Specimens.

Whole genome duplication (WGD) events are common in many plant lineages, but the ploidy status and possible occurrence of intraspecific ploidy variation are unknown for most species. Standard methods for ploidy determination are chromosome counting and flow cytometry approaches. While flow cytometry approaches typically use fresh tissue, an increasing number of studies have shown that recently dried specimens can be used to yield ploidy data.

Decoding ice plants: challenges associated with barcoding and phylogenetics in the diverse succulent family Aizoaceae.

Aizoaceae is the largest succulent plant family in the world, including in excess of 1800 species. Despite its richness, a large proportion of its taxa are listed as data deficient and as such, has been identified as the top priority for taxonomic research in South Africa. Limitations to accurate taxonomic identification of taxa in the family may be partly attributed to the degree of technical knowledge required to identify taxa in the Aizoaceae.