Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences

Non-coding repetitive DNA (repeatome) is an active part of the nuclear genome, involved in its structure, evolution and function. It is dominated by transposable elements (TEs) and satellite DNA and is prone to the most rapid changes over time. The TEs activity presumably causes the global genome reorganization and may play an adaptive or regulatory role in response to environmental challenges.

Custom probe design for target enrichment in phylogenetics is tedious and often hinders broader phylogenetic synthesis. The universal angiosperm probe set Angiosperms353 may be the solution. Here, we test the relative performance of Angiosperms353 on the Rosaceae subtribe Malinae in comparison with custom probes that we specifically designed for this clade. We then address the impact of bioinformatically altering the performance of Angiosperms353 by replacing the original probe sequences with orthologs extracted from the Malus domestica genome.

Parallel evolution provides powerful natural experiments for studying repeatability of evolution and genomic basis of adaptation. Well-documented examples from plants are, however, still rare, as are inquiries of mechanisms driving convergence in some traits while divergence in others. Arabidopsis arenosa, a predominantly foothill species with scattered morphologically distinct alpine occurrences is a promising candidate. Yet, the hypothesis of parallelism remained untested.

Minuartia smejkalii is an obligate serpentinophyte plant endemic to the Czech Republic. Since the 1960s, the species’ habitat has undergone strong human-mediated fragmentation, resulting in extinction of some populations and dramatic size reduction of the remaining populations. Thus, contrary to the typically stable serpentine habitats, M. smejkalii habitats underwent a recent and severe decline, which can exacerbate the effects of fragmentation on population genetic structure. We examined the genetic structure of all known M.

Taraxacum koksaghyz Rodin, a dandelion from the steppes of south-eastern Kazakhstan, has been known for long time as potential rubber producer, as a temperate region alternative to the tropical rubber tree Hevea brasiliensis Müll. Arg.. In this work, we evaluate Taraxacum bicorne Dahlst. (wild populations), a closely related congener of T. koksaghyz.

Genus Taraxacum (Asteraceae), having ∼60 sections and 2,800 species, is known for its complicated evolutionary relationships and taxonomy due to processes like frequent hybridization, polyploidization, asexual reproduction, clonality and low structural morphological variability. Various taxonomical concepts and approaches are reviewed, evaluated and discussed from point of view of their ability to deal with such a complicated genera as is Taraxacum. Various processes responsible for the complicated situation within Taraxacum are discussed and reviewed. Section Dioszegia, comprising T.

Poster presented at Botany 2018 conference of the Botanical Society of America titled Hunting the treasure of Cape Oxalis diversity (Zeisek, Oberlander, Dreyer, Schmickl, Schneeweiss):

Diploid populations of Valeriana officinalis L. (Valerianaceae) in Central Europe exhibit an extensive variation, with two conspicuous morphotypes. One, corresponding to the lectotype of V. officinalis, is larger, with broader, distinctly dentate leaflets, the other is in many respects similar to V. pratensis Dierb. and V. stolonifera ­Czern., but is glabrous, with narrow, usually entire leaflets. The two forms also differ in their ecological optimum and in geographical distribution, but are linked with numerous intermediates.