Crossing Amazonian rivers: a comparative study of plants with distinct life histories

• Grant number: 17/02302-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: March 08, 2017
• End date: April 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Lúcia Garcez Lohmann
• Grantee: Alison Gonçalves Nazareno
• Supervisor: Christopher William Dick
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Michigan, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/12633-8 - Comparative phylogeography of plants in the Central Amazonia, BP.PD

Abstract

The Amazon is one of the most diverse biomes on the planet. Despite its importance, little is still known about the ecological and evolutionary processes that led to the high diversity encountered in this region. In this study, we will use four plant species with different modes dispersal (i.e., Amphirrhox longifolia, Buchenavia oxypetala, Passiflora spinosa and Psychotria sp.), to test "Wallace's Riverine Barrier Hypothesis," which postulates that rivers act as biogeographic barriers to gene flow. Although there are many studies exploring the impacts of Riverine Barriers on animal taxa, few studies have carefully examined the impact of Amazon tributaries on the genetic divergence of plant taxa. To test "Wallace's Riverine Barrier Hypothesis," we sampled 14 populations and ca. 100 individuals of each plant species along the Rio Negro and/or Rio Branco. We will use ddRAD-seq (i.e., double-digest Restriction-site Associated DNA sequencing) to identify and classify a large number of polymorphic SNPs (i.e., Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms) across the genomes of the 467 individuals sampled. Apart from defining patterns of genetic differentiation for these plant species in the Amazon Basin, the results derived from this study will also contribute new information for an improved understanding of the structure and evolution of the Amazonian biota as a whole. This project is a collaborative initiative between the Laboratório de Sistemática Vegetal (Departament of Botany) of the University of São Paulo, and Dick's Lab (Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) at the University of Michigan. While Dr. Lohmann's lab at the University of São Paulo will provide all the assistance and funds for the field component of this project, Dr. Dick's lab will provide state of the art equipment to generate data and perform the genetic analyses needed to successfully complete the project. Data analyses will be conducted at both Michigan and São Paulo and the paper will be written jointly between members of both Institutions. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

NAZARENO, ALISON G.; DICK, CHRISTOPHER W.; LOHMANN, LUCIA G.. Tangled banks: A landscape genomic evaluation of Wallace's Riverine barrier hypothesis for three Amazon plant species. Molecular Ecology, v. 28, n. 5, p. 980-997, MAR 2019. (12/50260-6, 13/12633-8, 17/02302-5, 15/07141-4)

NAZARENO, ALISON G.; KNOWLES, L. LACEY; DICK, CHRISTOPHER W.; LOHMANN, LUCIA G.. By Animal, Water, or Wind: Can Dispersal Mode Predict Genetic Connectivity in Riverine Plant Species?. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, v. 12, FEB 12 2021. (15/07141-4, 12/50260-6, 13/12633-8, 17/02302-5)

NAZARENO, ALISON G.; DICK, CHRISTOPHER W.; LOHMANN, LUCIA G.. A Biogeographic Barrier Test Reveals a Strong Genetic Structure for a Canopy-Emergent Amazon Tree Species. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 9, DEC 9 2019. (15/07141-4, 17/02302-5, 13/12633-8, 12/50260-6)