Phylogeny, biogeography and diversification of cacti in South America focusing on Tribe Cereeae (Cactaceae)

• Grant number: 18/06937-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: January 01, 2019
• End date: November 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Evandro Marsola de Moraes
• Grantee: Monique Romeiro Brito
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Humanas e Biológicas (CCHB). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Sorocaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The global expansion of arid and semiarid habitats is often associated with climate changes that occurred during the Miocene and Pleistocene. Despite the relevance of these climatic events for the diversification of plants in xeric (dry) environments, few studies have been conducted related to the role of the expansion of aridity as a mechanism of diversification in South America. Besides the expansion of aridity, biotic factors may be involved with the diversification of taxon associated with xeric habitats, as observed in previous studies within Cactaceae family. Due to the recent diversification of this family, molecular phylogenies that used few molecular markers were not able to distinguish the relationship within its main clades. A reasonable strategy to obtain higheraccuracy and resolution in phylogenetic inferences is to employ genomic data combined with coalescence phylogenetic approaches. This project aims to investigate biotic and abiotic factors associated with the diversification of the tribe Cereeae and to identify ecological and evolutionary patterns that allow us to testhypotheses about the diversification of taxa that inhabit xeric areas in South America. Here we will employ next-generation sequencing methods and new phylogenetics approaches in order to perform historical biogeographyinferences and tests of association between biotic and abiotic variables with shifts in diversification rates in the tribe Cereeae. (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)

FRANCO, FERNANDO FARIA; AMARAL, DANILO TRABUCO; BONATELLI, ISABEL A. S.; ROMEIRO-BRITO, MONIQUE; TELHE, MILENA CARDOSO; MORAES, EVANDRO MARSOLA. Evolutionary Genetics of Cacti: Research Biases, Advances and Prospects. GENES, v. 13, n. 3, p. 22-pg., 2022-03-01. (18/06937-8, 20/15161-3, 19/11233-2)

ROMEIRO-BRITO, MONIQUE; TELHE, MILENA CARDOSO; AMARAL, DANILO TRABUCO; FRANCO, FERNANDO FARIA; MORAES, EVANDRO MARSOLA. A target Capture Probe Set Useful for Deep- and Shallow-Level Phylogenetic Studies in Cactaceae. GENES, v. 13, n. 4, p. 15-pg., 2022-04-01. (19/11233-2, 18/03428-5, 19/03211-9, 18/06937-8)

AMARAL, DANILO TRABUCO; BONATELLI, ISABEL A. S.; ROMEIRO-BRITO, MONIQUE; MORAES, EVANDRO MARSOLA; FRANCO, FERNANDO FARIA. Spatial patterns of evolutionary diversity in Cactaceae show low ecological representation within protected areas. Biological Conservation, v. 273, p. 12-pg., 2022-08-11. (18/03428-5, 19/03211-9, 18/06937-8)