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2017_69: Is climate change differentially affecting C3 and C4 plant lineages in Africa? – a case study of tribe Abildgaardieae Supervisors: Professor Isabel Larridon ([email protected]), Professor Iain Colin Prentice (Life Sciences) Department: Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew C4 photosynthesis is an evolutionary response to climate change (incl. aridification). C4 species are few compared with C3 plants, but account for 25% of primary productivity and dominate (sub)tropical grasslands. Investigating C4 evolution is important to understand the origin and function of the biosphere and meet growing demands for resources. Multiple independent origins of C4 in Cyperaceae provide opportunities to study the response of C3 and C4 lineages to climate change. The largest diversity of C4 sedge lineages occurs in Africa allowing investigation of C4 evolution within its unique climatic and biogeographical history. Africa is undergoing aridification at a scale and level only comparable to Australia. Studying adaptation in African flora may be key to decipher long-term evolutionary response to global warming. Evolutionary relationships in Cyperaceae (sedges) have been studied using a conventional Sanger sequencing approach, however, robust phylogenetic resolution across the family remains patchy. Relationships between C4 taxa are ill-understood, hampered by an apparent faster rate of diversification leading to limited topological resolution and support. Abildgaardieae (>500 spp.), a tribe diverse in Africa (>150 spp.) including e.g. Bulbostylis (C3/C4), Crosslandia (C4), Fimbristylis (C3/C4), Nelmesia (C4), and Nemum (C4), remains one of the most poorly resolved sedge groups due to a lack of research focus and complicated taxonomy. Very little is known, even at generic level. We aim to build a dated phylogeny to resolve relationships in C4 lineages of tribe Abildgaardieae and identify their closest C3 relatives. An accurately dated and robust phylogeny is critical to determine evolutionary drivers and processes, and inform how plants respond to environmental pressures. Molecular data will be generated using the high-throughput sequencing technique Hyb-Seq which enables highly cost-efficient genome-wide data capture for phylogenomics. A new angiosperm-wide Hyb-Seq enrichment probe kit is being developed for the Kew Science Plant and Fungal Trees of Life (PAFTOL, http://science.kew.org/strategicoutput/plant-and-fungal-trees-life) Strategic Output programme based on transcriptome and genome data generated by the oneKP project (www.onekp.com). For more information on how to apply visit us at www.imperial.ac.uk/changingplanet Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet A Cyperaceae-specific probe kit, developed by collaborating researcher Dr Tamara Villaverde at The Morton Arboretum/The Field Museum, is also available for use. Good-quality DNA of a range of Abildgaardieae species is already available at the Kew DNA Bank, and aliquots and/or additional samples are available from partners at Ghent University (Belgium), Canada, Hungary, South Africa, and the USA. Biogeographical and ecological niche modelling informed by Kew herbarium records will be employed to infer whether evolution of C4 precedes radiation events in Abildgaardieae, investigate whether C4 and C3 lineages occupy similar niches, assess levels of niche conservatism, and provide knowledge on how C3 and C4 lineages have differentially responded to environmental changes in Africa. In combination with identification of key lineages and habitats for conservation, this data will inform on-the-ground plant conservation in Africa. Abildgaardieae (in particular Bulbostylis) have been chosen as a focus groups for the Kew Science Strategic Output programme Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs; http://science.kew.org/strategicoutput/tropical-important-plant-areas) as they are capable of informing ecosystem based conservation where wetlands, temporary wet habitats, metal-rich soils, inselbergs and submontane grasslands are concerned. For more information on how to apply visit us at www.imperial.ac.uk/changingplanet