Reaching for the sky: exploring massive convergent evolution towards woodiness in Brassicaceae
Final Report Abstract
Whereas most woody plants have woody ancestors, so-called derived woody species evolved from herbaceous ancestors. The repeated origin of woodiness (estimated at 700 cases in flowering plants) is an example of an intriguing phenomenon: convergent evolution. A plant family that stands out (representing 15% of all woodiness shifts) is the mustard family (Brassicaceae), well-known for important crops like cabbage and rapeseed, as well as model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Based on species distribution patterns and experiments, we hypothesized that a shift towards woodiness is an important adaptation to drought. Our preliminary results show that woody species generally occur in drier areas than their herbaceous relatives, suggesting that a woody growth form is a useful adaptation to drought. To test for significance, we developed a novel Brassicaceae Tree of Life (BrassiToL) that allows us to identify and exactly count the evolutionary transitions towards woodiness, and test for different potential drivers of woodiness while accounting for evolutionary autocorrelation. Our study to understand the repeated origin of derived woodiness in the Brassicaceae led us to publish our novel methodology, update the family’s taxonomy and generate the most complete and robust BrassiToL to date. Additionally, our data were a valuable component in a recent publication of a global angiosperm-wide Tree of Life and several tribe-level taxonomic analyses. Moreover, our study provides new insights into ways to breed improved drought-resilient crops by identifying all the crop wild relatives. Additionally, we aim to develop the complete ~4,000 species BrassiToL that will benefit thousands of scientists worldwide, allowing sensible comparisons between model species, crops, and wild relatives.
Publications
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The best of both worlds: Combining lineage‐specific and universal bait sets in target‐enrichment hybridization reactions. Applications in Plant Sciences, 9(7).
Hendriks, Kasper P.; Mandáková, Terezie; Hay, Nikolai M.; Ly, Elfy; Hooft, van Huysduynen Alex; Tamrakar, Rubin; Thomas, Shawn K.; Toro‐Núñez, Oscar; Pires, J. Chris; Nikolov, Lachezar A.; Koch, Marcus A.; Windham, Michael D.; Lysak, Martin A.; Forest, Félix; Mummenhoff, Klaus; Baker, William J.; Lens, Frederic & Bailey, C. Donovan
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A Hyb‐Seq phylogeny of Boechera and related genera using a combination of Angiosperms353 and Brassicaceae‐specific bait sets. American Journal of Botany, 110(10).
Hay, Nikolai M.; Windham, Michael D.; Mandáková, Terezie; Lysak, Martin A.; Hendriks, Kasper P.; Mummenhoff, Klaus; Lens, Frederic; Pryer, Kathleen M. & Bailey, C. Donovan
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An updated classification of the Brassicaceae (Cruciferae). PhytoKeys, 220, 127-144.
German, Dmitry A.; Hendriks, Kasper P.; Koch, Marcus A.; Lens, Frederic; Lysak, Martin A.; Bailey, C. Donovan; Mummenhoff, Klaus & Al-Shehbaz, Ihsan A.
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Global Brassicaceae phylogeny based on filtering of 1,000-gene dataset. Current Biology, 33(19), 4052-4068.e6.
Hendriks, Kasper P.; Kiefer, Christiane; Al-Shehbaz, Ihsan A.; Bailey, C. Donovan; Hooft, van Huysduynen Alex; Nikolov, Lachezar A.; Nauheimer, Lars; Zuntini, Alexandre R.; German, Dmitry A.; Franzke, Andreas; Koch, Marcus A.; Lysak, Martin A.; Toro-Núñez, Óscar; Özüdoğru, Barış; Invernón, Vanessa R.; Walden, Nora; Maurin, Olivier; Hay, Nikolai M.; Shushkov, Philip ... & Lens, Frederic
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Phylogenomics and the rise of the angiosperms. Nature, 629(8013), 843-850.
Zuntini, Alexandre R.; Carruthers, Tom; Maurin, Olivier; Bailey, Paul C.; Leempoel, Kevin; Brewer, Grace E.; Epitawalage, Niroshini; Françoso, Elaine; Gallego-Paramo, Berta; McGinnie, Catherine; Negrão, Raquel; Roy, Shyamali R.; Simpson, Lalita; Toledo, Romero Eduardo; Barber, Vanessa M. A.; Botigué, Laura; Clarkson, James J.; Cowan, Robyn S.; Dodsworth, Steven ... & Baker, William J.
