Publications by authors named "Sarah Z Ficinski"
Article Synopsis
- Angiosperms are vital for ecosystems and human life, making it important to understand their evolutionary history to grasp their ecological dominance.
- The study builds an extensive tree of life for about 8,000 angiosperm genera using 353 nuclear genes, significantly increasing the sampling size and refining earlier classifications.
- The findings reveal a complex evolutionary history marked by high gene tree conflict and rapid diversification, particularly during the early angiosperm evolution, with shifts in diversification rates linked to global temperature changes.
Article Synopsis
- The study focuses on characterizing the genomes of diploid and polyploid Urochloa species, important C4 tropical forage grasses from Africa, to understand their evolutionary pathways and genome composition.
- Researchers analyzed 362 grass accessions using flow cytometry, sequencing, and cytogenetic methods to identify variations and repetitive DNA within these species.
- The findings led to a proposed new nomenclature for these genomes and a model of their evolution, emphasizing the need for careful selection in breeding to enhance the sustainability and agronomic potential of Urochloa grass species.
Most people can name a mammal or bird that has become extinct in recent centuries, but few can name a recently extinct plant. We present a comprehensive, global analysis of modern extinction in plants. Almost 600 species have become extinct, at a higher rate than background extinction, but almost as many have been erroneously declared extinct and then been rediscovered.
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