Poster

         Systematics

A Hyb-Seq approach to species delimitation and hybridization in Andinocleome

Presenting Author
Henry Landis
Description
Hyb-Seq approaches have been broadly successful at illuminating relationships at the species level.  An appealing extension of these methods is the application of Hyb-Seq data to patterns of species delimitation and hybridization.  The genus Andinocleome (Cleomaceae), native to the Andes, has recently undergone a taxonomic revision and currently comprises nine species.  Of these, hybridization has been suspected between A. anomala and A. glandulosa, as well as A. moritzana and A. longifolia, based on morphological similarity.  To date, no genetic investigation into species boundaries among Andinocleome has been performed.   We conducted a Hyb-Seq protocol using the Angiosperm353 probe set to 69 individuals of Andinocleome covering all nine species.  We utilize both novel field specimens and herbarium vouchers to account for the full geographical and morphological distribution of the genus.  To search for signals of hybridization, we plan coalescent modeling to construct population-level relationships, and subsequently apply the Species Networks applying Quartets (SNaQ) function in the phylogenetics software PhyloNetworks to evaluate the likelihood of competing hypotheses for the timing and directionality of hybridization events.  The results of this approach are expected to clarify species boundaries among Andinocleome that have long been considered cryptic, as well as identify where these boundaries are permeable and permit reticulating evolution within the genus.