The Evolution of Leaf Traits Associated with Drought-resistance and Diversification History in Crassula |
April 2019 - August 2019
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Imperial College London MRes thesis project The follow-up work of this project was published in 2022. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1797 Plants have evolved different ecological strategies in response to major climatic changes throughout history, and succulence is one of the most prominent traits that assists plants to deal with arid conditions. Crassula, a leafy succulent genus in Crassulaceae, exhibits a remarkable diversity at morphological, phylogenetic and geographical levels. As such, it is important to understand the diversifying pattern in Crassula, and to explore the links between key ecologically functional characters with the corresponding biomes. This study aims to assess the evolution of drought-resistant leaf trait in Crassula through comparative phylogenetics and investigate the diversification in this group. |
Impact of Gene Flow on Ecological Differentiation of Bacteria |
November 2018 - March 2019
Barralab, Imperial College London MRes thesis project Highlighted with unique ecological properties and genetic mobility, bacterial speciation has been a topic of great interest. Gene flow is recognized as a crucial force shaping the evolutionary process; its impact on the early stage of bacterial speciation remains unclear. The aim of this study is to assess the role of gene flow in diverging population. Phenotypic assays were given to assess the fitness of adaptation at the end of the experiment. The results indicated that gene flow does not affect the splitting speed of a diverging population, and it does not have impacts on local adaptations. This study provided a primary investigation on the ecological differentiations in bacteria under selection pressure and gene flow. |
A Molecular Phylogeny and Classification of Neospartoneae |
December 2016 - March 2018
Olmstead Lab, University of Washington Undergraduate dissertation Published in 2019. DOI: 10.14522/darwiniana.2019.72.841 Neospartoneae are a small tribe in Verbenaceae, native to temperate South America and comprising seven species in three genera: Diostea, Lampayo and Neosparton. The evolutionary relationships within Neospartoneae remained unclear in previous studies. This study presents a first species-level phylogeny of Neospartoneae. The generic relationships are well resolved and confirm the monophyly of the Neospartoneae and each genus. The topologies show that Neosparton is sister to a clade comprised of Diostea and Lampayo. The finding also provides insight to morphological character evolution of this tribe.
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