A molecular biosystematic study of the section Pilosellina and evolutionary aspects of its glacial origin
| Name: | A molecular biosystematic study of the section Pilosellina and evolutionary aspects of its glacial origin |
|---|---|
| Researchers: |
Urfus Tomáš (head – principal researcher) Krak Karol (head – principal researcher) Krahulec František (head – principal researcher) |
| Provider: | GAUK |
| Realization from: | 2008 |
| Realization to: | 2010 |
| Summary: | The present project concerns a molecular biosystematic study of members of sect. Pilosellina (genus Pilosella Vaill., Asteraceae). The authors\' objective is to determine the values of selected biosystematic characteristics (i. e., ploidy level, genome size, mode of reproduction) in a vast array of taxa and cytotypes from the whole of Europe and to address, taking advantage of morphometric analyses, the relationships between as well as within species in this taxonomically rather troublesome section. The molecular part of the project is aimed at scrutinizing chloroplast haplotypes, their species specificity and geographic distribution. On the basis of the distribution of chloroplast haplotypes in the area under study, more refined hypotheses will be formulated about the evolutionary and speciation processes taking place in the section Pilosellina in connection with the hypothetical distribution of the taxa during the glacial period. A synthesis of the data from both methodical approaches will be performed to determine the evolutionary relationships between the taxa under investigation and especially to look into the origin of Pilosella officinarum F. W. Schultz et Sch. Bip., which is the most common species of the genus in Europe as well as a remarkably invasive alien species in many parts of the world. |