Asteraceae as a model system for evolutionary studies: from fossils to genomes.

With c. 24 700 species (10% of all flowering plants), Asteraceae are one of the largest and most phenotypically diverse angiosperm families, with considerable economic and ecological importance. Asteraceae are distributed worldwide, from nearly polar latitudes all the way to the tropics, and occur across a diverse range of habitats from extreme deserts to swamps and from lowland rainforests to alpine tundra. Altogether, these characteristics make this family an outstanding model system to address a broad range of eco-evolutionary questions. In this review, we summarize recent progress in our understanding of Asteraceae on the basis of joint efforts by specialists in the fields of palaeobotany, cytogenetics, comparative genomics and phylogenomics. We will highlight how these developments are opening up new possibilities for integrating fields and better comprehending evolution beyond Asteraceae.

Project(s)

Priority 2: Trait Diversity and Function

Funder

Funder name	Awards
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain / Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Spain	Project ‘COMPOSITAE’ reference number PID2020-116480GB-I00 - Ramón y Cajal grant reference number RYC-2017-2274
Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain	‘Ajuts a Grups de Recerca Consolidats’ (2017/SGR/1116)
Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, Argentina	PICT 2019- 03011
European Science Foundation, France	Investing in your future’