Aug 7th, 2020 - Leonie C. Moyle

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    Next SOL Seminar Online will be presented by Leonie C. Moyle on The history and origin of natural variation in the charismatic wild tomato Solanum pimpinellifolium and its close Galápagos relatives

    Abstract. The Solanaceae is known for its immense phenotypic and numerical diversity, making it an especially fruitful group for understand mechanisms of trait and species diversification.  We have been using comparative and population genomics as a framework to understand the origin and distribution of natural variation in wild tomatoes and other Solanaceous groups, to infer the genetics of complex natural traits, and to understand the forces that drive diversification at micro- and macroevolutionary scales. Here I’ll focus on some of our recent work in the wild tomato species Solanum pimpinellifolium­, and its two close relatives endemic to the Galápagos archipelago--S. cheesmaniae and S. galapagense. Associations between genome-wide Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) data and features of the abiotic climate indicate natural selection plays a strong role in shaping genotypic variation across the home range of S. pimpinellifolium in mainland South America. These SNP data, in combination with historical and contemporary field collections on the Galápagos, also reveal a recent history of invasion of S. pimpinellifolium onto the Galápagos archipelago—likely from human introduction—as well as clear evidence of hybridization between invasive and endemic species.  Interestingly, genomic patterns of shared ancestry indicate that hybridization has enabled some invasive individuals to adopt both the fruit color genes and the orange fruit color that is characteristic of the endemic island species. This inferred case of phenotypic convergence via hybridization suggests that orange fruit color might be selectively favored specifically on the Galápagos—a hypothesis that is testable with future work both in the lab and the field.

    When? Friday 7th August, 4 pm (GMT+1)

    The zoom link to join the meeting is https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/94333146166 Meeting ID: 943 3314 6166, password: Solanaceae

    Watch this talk again: https://youtu.be/oPZeq_AikNg

                       

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith