Phylogeography, population genomics and adaptive variation in Pitcairnia lanuginos...
| Grant number: | 14/08087-0 |
| Support type: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |
| Effective date (Start): | September 01, 2016 |
| Effective date (End): | December 03, 2018 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Botany |
| Principal Investigator: | Clarisse Palma da Silva |
| Grantee: | Bárbara Simões Santos Leal |
| Home Institution: | Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil |
| Associated scholarship(s): | 16/20273-0 - Population genomics and adaptive variation of the Pitcairnia lanuginosa complex (Bromeliaceae), BE.EP.DR |
Abstract The understanding of the processes leading to the diversification of lineages and the appearance of new species is particularly important in the world's biodiversity hotspots. Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS) approaches, as restriction site associated DNA sequencing (RAD-Seq), have shown promise for studying such processes, even when it involves non-model organisms. In this work, we will use the Pitcairnia lanuginosa complex (Bromeliaceae), which is widely distributed in tropical regions of South America, as a model to study patterns and processes underlying the diversity in the Neotropics. For this, we will employ a large amount of SNPs markers isolated by RAD-Seq, as well as nuclear and plastid markers and ecological niche modeling (ENM), to determine the role of historical demographic processes on the neutral and adaptive genetic variation and to test the boundaries between species of the group, in a phylogeographic context. In an attempt to aggregate essential biological knowledge to interpret the patterns of diversification, we will also raise data about the morphological variation and the reproductive biology, still unknown for the species of the complex. Our results about the divergence between the lineages of P. lanuginosa complex occupying the Central Andean Yungas and the Brazilian Cerrado will provide insights about the patterns and processes that govern the high biodiversity of the South American continent. This study will also assist the understanding of demographic responses of herbaceous plants adapted to drought stress during the Quaternary climatic oscillations. (AU) | |