Drought and rising temperatures can cause massive forest diebacks around the world. When a tree is experiencing drought, “shedding off” the leaves can enhance tree water status by reducing canopy transpiration. Whilst...
Tag - microsatellite
Juniper Kiss
Historical migration and taxonomy of the Korean endemic shrub Lespedeza maritima
Jin et al. use molecular analyses and morphological examination to understand the evolutionary divergence and establishment patterns of a Korean endemic shrub.
William Salter
High Gene Flow Shapes the Invasion of the Bitter Vine in Asia
Mikania micrantha benefits from high gene flow when invading new territory in Asia.
Alex Assiry
Population structure of Betula albosinensis and B. platyphylla
Differences in local abundance and ploidy level are predicted to impact the direction of introgression between species. Hu et al. test these hypotheses on Chinese populations of Betula albosinensis (red birch...
Limited seed and pollen gene dispersal in Taxus baccata
Dispersal is crucial due to its direct impact on dynamics of a species’ distribution as well as having a role in shaping adaptive potential through gene flow. In plants forming scarce and small populations, knowledge...
Genetic diversity and structure of an endangered medicinal herb: implications for conservation
Human-driven habitat fragmentation leads to spatial isolation of endangered plant species, increasing extinction risk. Understanding genetic variability and population structure of rare and isolated plant species is of...
Chinese aspen with a dynamic Quaternary evolutionary history
Populus adenopoda (Salicaceae), the Chinese aspen, occurs in the subtropical China region. Fen et al. report a genetic survey to reveal that it survived in multiple glacial refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum (ca...
botanyone
Evolving towards introgression: hybridization and hybrid swarms
The extent to which hybridization leads to gene flow between plant species depends on the structure of hybrid populations. To assess possible variation in a hybrid population structure, Yan et al. evaluate magnitude and...
Endogenous Banana Streak Viruses illuminate Musa balbisiana diversity
Banana streak viruses (BSV) present in the B genome of banana or plantain cultivars give rise to spontaneous infections following abiotic stresses. Because cooking banana is an economically important staple fruit for...
Maintenance of plant species cohesion despite ongoing hybridization
When species cohesion is maintained despite ongoing natural hybridisation.
AJ Cann
Where do olives come from?
An analysis of patterns of genetic differentiation finds evidence of reciprocal gene exchanges between populations of Mediterranean and Saharan olives.
Individual mating patterns in mixed oak stands
Trees can mate assortatively, which may be a result of variable compatibility among trees due to genetic and/or environmental factors.
Single-copy nuclear genes for palm phylogenetics
Molecular phylogenetic studies of palms (Arecaceae) have not yet provided a fully resolved phylogeny of the family. Ludeña et al. test the value of AGAMOUS 1 and PHYTOCHROME B genes as new nuclear markers to improve...
Diversification in Hawaiian Dubautia laxa
The Hawaiian silversword alliance (Asteraceae) is one the best examples of a plant adaptive radiation, exhibiting extensive morphological and ecological diversity. Using subspecies of Dubautia laxa as an example...
