Molecular Phylogenetic and Phylogeographic Studies of Chrestinae (Compositae, Vernonieae)

Abstract

Since the first naturalists, the abundant biodiversity of Neotropical regions has intrigued scientists and motivated studies of several types. Understanding evolutionary processes that led to the current biodiversity can help delimitating taxonomic entities, and consequently guide conservation and sustainability efforts. Large and widespread plant families provide interesting questions regarding evolutionary processes related to diversification and biogeography. Asteraceae is one of the largest families of Angiosperms, and about 2000 species are found on Brazil. Chrestinae is a small, monogeneric subtribe from Vernonieae, almost endemic from Brazil, and is composed by 15 species distributed mainly in the Caatinga and Cerrado. It presents a large morphological diversity that has motivated the current doctorate project, involving understanding the evolutionary processes that led to the current diversity, through a well resolved phylogeny, a population study and study of morphological features. In the proposed internship, the main objective is to carry on the molecular work necessary to complete the phylogenetic and phylogeographic studies and analyze the obtained data.