Abstract Detail

Understanding Plant Defense Strategies: Interplay Between Traditional Botanical Tools and Modern Analytical Approaches

Martine, Chris [1], Cantley, Jason [1], Jordon-Thaden, Ingrid [2], Hayes, Daniel [1], Roche, Morgan [3], Tank, David C. [4].

What a next-generation phylogeny tells us about Australia’s bush tomatoes (Solanum).

The dioecious and andromonoecious “bush tomatoes” (Solanum) of northern Australia continue to generate questions related to reproductive ecology, species boundaries, biogeography, and breeding systems evolution – yet a well-resolved phylogeny for the group has proven elusive. For this study we analyzed data generated from ca. 50 Solanum taxa from Australia, the rest of the Old World, and the New World in an attempt to clarify relationships among the Australian taxa and to further explore aspects of the phylogeny of Old World spiny solanums. Phylogenetic inference was made from select unknown intronic regions mined from six transcriptomes from the 1000 Plants (1KP) project. 173 intronic regions were mined from the transcriptomes using MarkerMiner 1.0, and primer pairs for these regions were designed with the Primer3 plugin in Geneious. Fourteen of these primer pairs were validated and used for phylogenetic inference. Our results, along with recent observations from the field and greenhouse-based experiments, allow us to make inferences regarding strategies for survival among the taxa in our study group – including methods of avoiding consumption of pre-ripened fruits.

Related Links:
Martine webpage

1 - Bucknell University
2 - University of California - Berkeley
3 - University of Tennessee
4 - University of Idaho, Department of Biological Sciences, 875 Perimeter Dr. MS 3051, Moscow, ID, 83844-3051, USA

Keywords:
Solanaceae
Solanum
breeding system
dioecy
andromonoecy
undergraduate research
MarkerMiner
Seed dispersal
Biogeography
introns.

Presentation Type: Symposium Presentation
Session: SY07, Understanding plant defense strategies: Interplay between traditional botanical tools and modern analytical approaches
Location: Chatham Ballroom - B/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016
Time: 3:45 PM
Number: SY07006
Abstract ID:524
Candidate for Awards:None