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Abstract Detail



Revolutionizing systematics: Herbaria in the Genomics Age

Livshultz, Tatyana [1], Tasca, Julia [2], Minbiole, Kevin [3], Smith, Chelsea [4], Teisher, Jordan [5], Straub, Shannon [6].

Using herbarium specimens to study plant metabolism: the state of the science and an example from pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Apocynaceae.

The DNA preserved in herbarium specimens is an invaluable resource for reconstructing plant phylogenies. Other plant metabolites, both primary and secondary, are also preserved, making herbaria a trove of chemical traits that can be used to study plant diversity, ecology, evolution, and responses to anthropogenic change. However, before using herbarium specimens as a source of chemical traits, researchers must identify and control for potential artifacts created by the processes of preservation and storage, as well as the limits to detection imposed by the small amount of material that may be removed from herbarium specimens. We highlight recent research that has used herbarium specimens to investigate plant metabolism and describe ongoing research to reconstruct the evolution of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Apocynaceae (ca. 5000 species concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions around the world) based on both genotypic and phenotypic evidence derived in part from herbarium specimens. We emphasize the experiments and controls used to validate the chemical profiles of herbarium specimens as representative of the living plants from which they are derived, strategies to optimize metabolite detection, and the kinds of artifacts that may be expected.


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1 - Drexel University, Biodiversity Earth and Environmental Sciences, Academy Of Natural Sciences Of Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, United States
2 - Villanova University, Chemistry, Mendel Hall Room 300A, 800 E. Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA, 19085, USA
3 - Villanova University, Chemistry, Mendel Hall Room 300A, 800 E. Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA, 19085, United States
4 - Drexel University, Biodiversity Earth and Environmental Sciences, Academy Of Natural Sciences Of Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, USA
5 - The Academy Of Natural Sciences Of Drexel University, Botany, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, United States
6 - Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Department of Biology, 300 Pulteney St., Geneva, NY, 14456, USA

Keywords:
Apocynaceae
alkaloid
Metabolism
herbarium
milkweed
secondary chemistry
chemical diversification
Asclepias.

Presentation Type: Colloquium Presentations
Session: C10, Revolutionizing Systematics: Herbaria in the Genomics Age
Location: 103/Mayo Civic Center
Date: Wednesday, July 25th, 2018
Time: 11:15 AM
Number: C10013
Abstract ID:613
Candidate for Awards:None


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