Seung‐Chul Kim

Woody Sonchus and five related genera (Babcockia, Taeckholmia, Sventenia, Lactucosonchus, and Prenanthes) of the Macaronesian islands have been regarded as an outstanding example of adaptive radiation in angiosperms. Internal transcribed spacer region of the nuclear rDNA (ITS) sequences were used to demonstrate that, despite the extensive morphological and ecological diversity of the plants, the entire alliance in insular Macaronesia has a common origin. The sequence data place Lactucosonchus as

Genetic architecture may profoundly influence the ability of adaptive traits to spread between species via introgressive hybridization. Here, we examine the genomic location of quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with pollen sterility and morphological traits distinguishing two annual sunflowers, Helianthus annuus and H. debilis ssp. cucumerifolius. These species are of particular interest since they hybridize naturally, and the form of H. annuus in Texas (called ssp. texanus) is thought to

The flora of Macaronesia, which encompasses five Atlantic archipelagos (Azores, Canaries, Madeira, Cape Verde, and Salvage), is exceptionally rich and diverse. Spectacular radiation of numerous endemic plant groups has made the Macaronesian islands an outstanding area for studies of evolution and speciation. Despite intensive investigation in the last 15 years, absolute age and rate of diversification are poorly known for the flora of Macaronesia. Here we report molecular divergence estimates an

Species belonging to Rosa section Synstylae (Rosaceae) are mainly distributed in East Asia, and represent recently diverged lineages within the genus. Over decades, inferring phylogenetic relationships within section Synstylae have been exceptional challenges, due to short branch lengths and low support values. Of approximately 36 species in the section Synstylae, Rosa multiflora, Rosa luciae and Rosa maximowicziana are widely distributed in the Sino-Japanese floristic region. In this study, we

Sequences from the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA were used to assess relationships among genera of subtribe Sonchinae (Lactuceae). The data suggest that Sonchinae is paraphyletic, and that the Dendroseridinae should not be recognized as a distinct subtribe. Several Macaronesian genera, along with woody Macaronesian species of Sonchus (all diploid, 2n = 18), appear to have been derived from a common ancestor. Prenanthes pendula is more closely related to this M

Determining accurate phylogenetic relationships among the members of the woody Sonchus alliance presents challenges because of an insufficient level of molecular variation and the convergent evolution of similar morphological traits in island settings. To obtain a better resolved phylogeny and to test the potential role of hybridization and introgression, we sequenced all members of the alliance with multiple populations for the ITS of nrDNA and over 4000 base pairs of coding and noncoding regio

The Sonchus alliance represents an oceanic island radiation that includes six genera and 31 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees occurring in diverse habitats ranging from cool, upland cloud forests to hot, dry, exposed cliff faces and coastal deserts. To investigate the role of photosynthetic adaptations during radiation into diverse habitats, we measured leaf morphological and physiological traits and relationships among 15 representative species of the woody Sonchus alliance grown under unifor

Symplocarpus, a skunk cabbage genus, includes two sister groups, which are drastically different in life history traits and thermogenesis, as follows: The nonthermogenic summer flowering S. nipponicus and thermogenic early spring flowering S. renifolius. Although the molecular basis of thermogenesis and complete chloroplast genome (plastome) of thermogenic S. renifolius have been well characterized, very little is known for that of S. nipponicus. We sequenced the complete plastomes of S. nipponi