Development and optimization of novel phylogenomic methods to elucidate diversity and evolution in the tribe Cichorieae (Compositae/sunflower family), providing key contributions to the Compositae family tree of life.
Final Report Abstract
We used a hybrid capture kit to target 1061 low copy loci that are potentially orthologous across the Asteraceae and generated a dataset containing almost 200 samples of Scorzonerinae and outgroups from across the tribe Cichorieae. Our taxon sampling contained ~30 species native to Iran that had not been analysed in a phylogenetic context before. By conducting a range of phylogenetic analyses the resulting phylogeny is better resolved than in previous studies and improve our understanding of the relationships within Scorzonera. Our results provide a baseline for divergence time estimations and ancestral biogeography estimations of Scorzonera. Establishing the Hyb-Seq approach as a method for phylogenetic research in the Cichorieae tribe of the Asteraceae, opens new research opportunities where previous methods failed.
