Systematics and Evolution of the tribe Arabideae with special emphasis on the genus Arabis (Brassicaceae)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Marcus Koch
• Subject Area: Evolution and Systematics of Plants and Fungi
• Term: from 2010 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 165512910

The broadly defined genus Arabis has been revised systematically only in few parts. Some species previously assigned to Arabis are now confined to genera such as Turritis, Pseudoturrits, Boechera or Fourraea. Other genera such as Arabidopsis/Cardaminopsis or Borodinia have been erroneously placed into Arabis in the past. In contrast genera such as Rhammotophyllum, Pachyneurum or Botschantzevia might be best placed in a revised tribe Arabideae. Some of the above mentioned genera are not members of tribe Arabideae, and considering the actual knowledge actually 70 to 140 Arabis species together with approximately 370 species of the genus Draba and its closest relatives might represent the core of tribe Arabideae. Our preliminary work has demonstrated that Draba and its segregates are mostly monophyletic, but in contrast, Arabis species appeared as a largely para- und polyphyletic set of species. Species-rich and widely distributed species complexes such as the Arabis hirsuta-aggregate have been also wrongly interpreted in the past, and it is apparent that hybridization, polyploidization and reticulation play an important role in the evolutionary history of many species. In this project we aim to analyze the systematics and evolution of the currently broadly defined genus Arabis in the context of the whole tribe Arabideae. We will reconstruct the phylogeny of the whole tribe with special emphasis on the evolutionary history and phylogeography of the more important and wider distributed species complexes such as the Arabis hirsuta-aggregate, red-flowering North American Arabis and the Arabis alpina group playing an increasing role as model in developmental and evolutionary research. Representatives of the genus Arabis are distributed in all north-hemispherical alpine to montane habitats and provide an ideal system to study the evolution of adaptive characters and traits.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants