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Abstract Detail


Systematics Section

Arakaki, Monica [3], Nyffeler, Reto [1], Moore, Michael [2], Edwards, Erika [3].

Using plastid genomic data to date the origin of the cacti.

The cactus lineage, which comprises 80% of species in the suborder Portulacineae (Caryophyllales), represents one of the most spectacular radiations of desert plants. Many have speculated on the age of the cactus radiation, but dating the origin of this lineage has been problematic due to lack of a fossil record. As a complement to a broadly sampled phylogeny of the Portulacineae based on directed PCR, we performed whole chloroplast genome sequencing for 12 taxa representing the major clades in the Portulacineae (Anredera, Blossfeldia, Didierea, Maihuenia, Opuntia, Portulaca, Portulacaria, Pereskia, Pereskiopsis, Talinopsis and Weingartia) and its sister group (Mollugo). The new genomic data was then combined with a recently published matrix of 83 chloroplast genes from across seed plants, providing the most thorough sampling of Caryophyllales in a plant phylogenomic study. The final dataset consisted of 102 taxa and over 75,000 bp. Likelihood and Bayesian analyses provided a well-supported and resolved phylogeny, which we time-calibrated using 26 fossils well distributed across seed plants. Here we report preliminary results concerning the age of the cacti.

Broader Impacts:


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1 - Universität Zürich, Institut für Systematische Botanik, Zollikerstrasse 107, Zürich, CH-8008, Schweiz
2 - Oberlin College, Department of Biology, 119 Woodland St., Science Center K111, Oberlin, OH, 44074, US
3 - Brown University, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 80 Waterman St., Providence, RI, 02912, US

Keywords:
Cactaceae
molecular dating
phylogenetics
phylogenomics
plastid genome
Portulacineae.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 55
Location: 554/Convention Center
Date: Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Time: 3:15 PM
Number: 55009
Abstract ID:398


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