Phylogeny, biogeography and trait evolution of Melocactus link & Otto and Discocactus Pfeiff. genera (Cactaceae)

• Grant number: 19/11233-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: November 01, 2019
• End date: September 01, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Evandro Marsola de Moraes
• Grantee: Milena Cardoso Telhe
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Humanas e Biológicas (CCHB). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Sorocaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/03428-5 - Dimensions US-BIOTA-Sao Paulo: traits as predictors of adaptive diversification along the Brazilian Dry Diagonal, AP.BTA.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/11683-0 - Integrating phylogenomics, biogeography, and niche evolution to understand the diversification process in Melocactus and Discocactus (Cactaceae), BE.EP.DD

Abstract

The Neotropical region is well known due to its species richness, although how this species richness was established and is maintained is poorly understood. Biotics interchanges were identified in large numbers in the Neotropical regions, indicating a key role for the establishment of regional biota. However, studies about biotic interchange changing the diversification rate are scare in the Neotropical region, specially between dry and open environments. Recent studies identified dispersal and establishment of taxa between Caatinga, Cerrado and Chaco biomes, which comprises the Dry Diagonal of South America. Some hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolutionary consequences of the connection between these biomes, however few studies were dedicated to test them. The aim of this project is to investigate the biogeographic and demographic events of the genus Melocactus and Discocactus. Because these genera occurs predominantly in Caatinga and Cerrado, these analyses will contribute to the understanding of the events that drove the diversification of the Dry Diagonal of South America. Numerous orthologous regions will be obtained using the sequence capture method and will be used to make phylogenetic, biogeographic and diversification inferences. The results obtained in these analyses will be used, with biotic and abiotic variables, to test the association of theses variables and the diversification rate changes within the clades, using the machine learning methods. (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)

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)

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)