A cyber monograph and phylogeny of the papaya family, Caricaceae: Providing the context for the fully sequenced genome of a worldwide crop

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Susanne Sabine Renner
• Subject Area: Evolution and Systematics of Plants and Fungi
• Term: from 2011 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 208475210

Caricaceae are a family of 35 species in currently six genera. Thirty-three species occur in Central and South America, two in Africa. Growth forms range from small herbs to tall trees, and the species occur in a wide range of habitats. A molecular phylogeny generated for this proposal includes most of the 35 species, and the Caricaceae sister group, the Moringaceae, is already well understood phylogenetically. Here we propose to (i) strengthen the species-level phylogeny with additional DNA loci, (ii) test our unexpected discovery that Carica papaya is sister to a Mexican clade of four herbaceous species, and (iii) complete a cyber monograph of the family, i.e., a systematic treatment that will take full advantage of databases and tools available in the computer and information age. The importance of speeding up and making freely accessible systematic results is constantly being stressed, yet there is a dearth of monographic work using the numerous e-tools and databases now in existence. This is due to an erosion of the expertise required for monographic systematic research. Caricaceae are well suited for a cyber monograph because of the nomenclatural and taxonomic basis laid by V. Badillo (1920-2008), the World expert on the family until recently. An important outcome of this project will be a phylogenetic framework for interpreting the complete papaya genome and the evolution of sex chromosomes in the Caricaceae.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants