Abstract Detail

Pteridology

Wickell, David [1], Zimmer, Elizabeth [2], Li, Fay-Wei [1].

Allopolyploid Speciation in the Enigmatic Quillworts of the Appalachian Plateau.

Polyploidy, both ancient and recent, is commonly recognized as an important driver of plant evolution. Evolutionary relationships between polyploid and diploid taxa are complicated by dynamic processes including recurrent formation of polyploid lineages and subsequent gene flow within and among those lineages. Isoetes also known as quillworts are a phylogenetically diverse, globablly distributed group of aquatic lycophytes. They are notable for the frequent hybridization and an exceptionally high number of polyploid species. Isoetes appalachiana is an allotetraploid that occupies a broad distribution throughout the eastern United States alongside its diploid progenitors I. valida and I. engelmannii. This makes it an excelent system to investigate the processes by which allopolyploid lineages persist and proliferate alongside previously established diploid parents. My research utilizes ddRADseq and whole chloroplast sequencing to unravel the demographic and evolutionary history of hybridization in this widespread species complex. By integrating phylogenetics, demography and ecology, I am attempting to attain a more complete understanding of how allopolyploids survive and thrive in this fascinating group of aquatic lycophyes.

1 - Cornell University, Plant Biology, 533 Tower Rd, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA
2 - Smithsonian NMNH, Botany MRC 166, P.O. Box 37102, Smithsonian National Museum Of Natural History, Washington, DC, 20013, United States

Keywords:
Isoetes
Lycophytes
polyploidy
RADseq
population genomics.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Number: PTR1004
Abstract ID:214
Candidate for Awards:Edgar T. Wherry award