A phylogenomic study of Saxifraga L. (Saxifragaceae) ...

• Main Author: Moerland, Michelangelo Sergio
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Reading 2023
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48683/1926.00113547; https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/113547

Saxifraga L. (Saxifragaceae) is a species-rich genus (> 440 spp.), which occurs mainly in mountainous and arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The species-richness of Saxifraga, and its strong ecological and morphological differentiation make it an ideal model system for studying alpine lineage evolution. However, those efforts require a robust phylogenetic framework. This thesis explores the evolutionary relationships within Saxifraga by designing hybrid-capture targets that are compatible with existing high-throughput sequencing data, to produce the most densely sampled phylogeny for the genus based on sequence information of 329 nuclear loci. High sequence coverage is obtained for target loci, although not all loci are retrieved for all sections of the genus, and certain taxa have a high incidence of paralogous copies due to the wide occurrence of polyploids in Saxifraga. DNA samples are predominantly sourced from museum material and the effect of locus retrieval and paralog detection is tested ...