A Dissertation in Poaceae Nuclear Phylogeny and Evolution of C4 Photosynthesis
Open Access
Author:
Huang, Weichen
Graduate Program:
Biology
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
February 24, 2023
Committee Members:
Hong Ma, Major Field Member & Dissertation Advisor Surinder Chopra, Outside Unit & Field Member Jesse Lasky, Major Field Member Claude Depamphilis, Chair of Committee Stephen Schaeffer, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies
Keywords:
Poaceae nuclear gene phylogeny photosynthesis
Abstract:
The grass family Poaceae is one of the largest plant families and of great economic importance. The phylogeny (i.e., relationship among species) of Poaceae was studied but a comprehensive phylogeny with large number of nuclear genes is missing. In this project I sampled over 350 grass species covering all subfamilies, generated genomic and transcriptomic data, selected more than 1,000 low-copy nuclear genes, performed coalescent and super-matrix analyses, and reported a well-resolved Poaceae phylogeny. The phylogeny of subfamily Panicoideae was further investigated with expanded sampling, especially from genome skimming datasets. The evolution of C4 photosynthesis is discussed based on ancestral state reconstruction and gene family analyses of ppc.
