Phylogeny of Cipocereus (Cactaceae) inferred from nuclear genomic data

• Grant number: 23/05769-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2023
• End date: June 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Evandro Marsola de Moraes
• Grantee: Gabriela Tonon Morente
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Humanas e Biológicas (CCHB). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Sorocaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The campo rupestre are highly diverse environments, but they are suffering from predatory human actions and there are still gaps in our knowledge about their diversification processes. To better study these processes, it is essential to obtain phylogenetic information from groups present in this ecosystem. In this project, we will use nuclear genomic data from Cipocereus (Cactaceae), a genus of cacti endemic to these areas, in order to infer phylogenetic relationships among its taxa. To do this, we will include representatives of all species and subspecies of this genus, as well as three taxa with possible close relationships, and five genera of the Cereinae subtribe as an outgroup. We will perform phylogenetic inferences using concatenated and coalescent approaches to obtain trees with high statistical support. With this, we will test the monophyly of the current circumscription of Cipocereus and the phylogenetic relationship of Cipocereus with closely related genera