Abstract Detail

Evolutionary Developmental Biology (Evo-Devo)

Landis, Jacob [1], Cohen, Jim [2].

Flower size evolution and patterns of selection in organ size genes across the evolutionary history of angiosperms.

Flower size varies widely across the evolutionary history of the angiosperm, which can have strong implications for pollination biology and reproductive success. There are many candidate genes involved in the hypothesized organ-size pathway; however, most of these have only been investigated in a handful of model organisms. Using a subset of taxa in the 1kp dataset, and additional transcriptomes, we set out to investigate the evolutionary history of homologs from many of the established candidate genes involved in organ size. A total of 122 taxa were chosen in which floral transcriptomes were available. Initially, putatively single copy nuclear genes were identified, via MarkerMiner, to build a species tree for downstream analyses. Homologs of candidate genes were then identified in the same subset of taxa using BLAST. Signatures of molecular selection were resolved from multiple sequence alignments using the codeml function in PAML. Further correlations were conducted between selection signatures and observed flower size to identify hotspots of flower evolution. These results set the foundation for further investigations of genes that may be responsible for observed differences in flower size.

1 - University Of California Riverside, Botany And Plant Sciences, 3401 Watkins Drive, Boyce Hall, Room 4412, Riverside, CA, 92507, United States
2 - Kettering University, 1700 University Ave., Flint, MI, 48503.0, United States

Keywords:
flower size
PAML
angiosperms
Phylogenetics.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Evolutionary Developmental Biology (Evo-Devo)
Location: Grand Ballroom - Exhibit Hall/Mayo Civic Center
Date: Monday, July 23rd, 2018
Time: 5:30 PM This poster will be presented at 6:15 pm. The Poster Session runs from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Posters with odd poster numbers are presented at 5:30 pm, and posters with even poster numbers are presented at 6:15 pm.
Number: PEV002
Abstract ID:405
Candidate for Awards:None