Event Title

Unlocking the evolution of different sexes in the Hawaiian endemic plant genus Schiedea

Location

Science Center: Bent Corridor

Document Type

Poster

Start Date

4-28-2023 12:00 PM

End Date

4-28-2023 2:00 PM

Abstract

The Hawaiian endemic plant genus Schiedea of the family Caryophyllaceae consists of 34 species, exhibiting extremely diverse breeding systems. Schiedea breeding strategies vary from insect to wind pollinated, hermaphroditic (individual with both male and female reproductive organs) to dioecious (male and female individuals in the same population), and out-crossing to self-pollinating. Understanding Schiedea’s breeding system is hugely important as it helps to shed light on the evolution of separate sexes in plants, which occur in about 15% of all plant species, and especially on oceanic islands where pollinators are fewer than on the mainland.

Existing phylogenetic data suggests that the ancestor of the genus was hermaphroditic, and that separate sexes may have evolved multiple times in Schiedea, reducing the amount of selfing in wind-pollinated plants. This breeding pattern is very likely coinciding with the evolution of wind pollination in drier Hawaiian habitats. However, with some limitations in the amount of DNA used to build pre-existing phylogenetic data, it would be challenging to fully understand the evolutionary transition between sexes. Therefore, in this study, we plan on reconstructing the evolutionary history of Schiedea by generating DNA sequence data for ~1000 genes, which will allow us to resolve the relationships and breeding system evolution among all Schiedea species with much greater confidence.

Keywords:

Systematics, Phylogeny, Evolution, Pollination

Major

Biology

Project Mentor(s)

Michael J. Moore, Biology

2023

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Apr 28th, 12:00 PM Apr 28th, 2:00 PM

Unlocking the evolution of different sexes in the Hawaiian endemic plant genus Schiedea

Science Center: Bent Corridor

The Hawaiian endemic plant genus Schiedea of the family Caryophyllaceae consists of 34 species, exhibiting extremely diverse breeding systems. Schiedea breeding strategies vary from insect to wind pollinated, hermaphroditic (individual with both male and female reproductive organs) to dioecious (male and female individuals in the same population), and out-crossing to self-pollinating. Understanding Schiedea’s breeding system is hugely important as it helps to shed light on the evolution of separate sexes in plants, which occur in about 15% of all plant species, and especially on oceanic islands where pollinators are fewer than on the mainland.

Existing phylogenetic data suggests that the ancestor of the genus was hermaphroditic, and that separate sexes may have evolved multiple times in Schiedea, reducing the amount of selfing in wind-pollinated plants. This breeding pattern is very likely coinciding with the evolution of wind pollination in drier Hawaiian habitats. However, with some limitations in the amount of DNA used to build pre-existing phylogenetic data, it would be challenging to fully understand the evolutionary transition between sexes. Therefore, in this study, we plan on reconstructing the evolutionary history of Schiedea by generating DNA sequence data for ~1000 genes, which will allow us to resolve the relationships and breeding system evolution among all Schiedea species with much greater confidence.