The fundamental goal of my research is to understand the evolution of plant diversity. To achieve this goal, I integrate different aspects of plant evolutionary biology into a phylogenetic framework. My research includes a range of experimental approaches, from the collection and observation of species in the field to the generation of molecular cytogenetic and DNA-based data. My main research projects include:

1. Evolution of breeding systems, biogeography, and polyploidy in the arctic/alpine genus Primula. This project focuses on elucidating the transitions between homostyly-heterostyly and diploidy-polyploidy in response to Pleistocene climate changes;
2. Testing the out-of-India origin of selected plant families by using molecular dating approaches. This is mainly a biogeographic project aimed at assessing the congruence between phylogenetic and geologic patterns centered around the role of the Indian plate in biotic exchanges;
3. Elucidating the origins of Mediterranean biodiversity with molecular phylogenetic and dating methods: the biogeographic history of the Corso-Sardinian flora;
4. Phylogenetic relationships and genetic diversity of Saxifraga florulenta, a rare species endemic to the Maritime Alps.

• Species divergence and maintenance of species cohesion of three closely related Primula species in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
  Ren, GP; Mateo, RG; Guisan, A; Conti, E; Salamin, N
  JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, 45 (11):2495-2507; 10.1111/jbi.13415 NOV 2018
• Evaluating alternative explanations for an association of extinction risk and evolutionary uniqueness in multiple insular lineages
  Warren, BH; Hagen, O; Gerber, F; Thebaud, C; Paradis, E; Conti, E
  EVOLUTION, 72 (10):2005-2024; 10.1111/evo.13582 OCT 2018
• A General Model for Estimating Macroevolutionary Landscapes
  Boucher, FC; Demery, V; Conti, E; Harmon, LJ; Uyeda, J
  SYSTEMATIC BIOLOGY, 67 (2):304-319; https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syx075 MAR 2018
• Mixed mating in homostylous species: genetic and experimental evidence from an alpine plant with variable herkogamy, Primula halleri
  de Vos, Jurriaan M; Keller, Barbara; Zhang, Li-Rui; Nowak, Michael D; Conti, Elena
  INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PLANT SCIENCES, 179 (2): 87-99, 10.1086/695527  FEB 2018 Article (Details)
• Forecasting range shifts of a cold-adapted species under climate change: Are genomic and ecological diversity within species crucial for future resilience?
  Theodoridis1 S, Patsiou1 TS, Randin C, Conti E.
  Ecography, DOI: 10.1111/ecog.03346  2017.
• How Do Cold-Adapted Plants Respond to Climatic Cycles? Interglacial Expansion Explains Current Distribution and Genomic Diversity in Primula farinosa L. 
  Theodoridis, Spyros; Randin, Christophe; Szovenyi, Peter; Boucher, FC; Patsiou, TS; Conti, E
  SYSTEMATIC BIOLOGY, 66 (5): 715-736, 10.1093/sysbio/syw114  SEP 2017
• The contribution of cold air pooling to the distribution of a rare and endemic plant of the Alps
  Patsiou, TS; Conti, E; Theodoridis, S; Randin, CF
  Plant Ecology & Diversity, 10:1, 29-42, DOI: 10.1080/17550874.2017.1302997  2017
• Selfing in Haploid Plants and Efficacy of Selection: Codon Usage Bias in the Model Moss Physcomitrella patens 
  Szovenyi, Peter; Ullrich, Kristian K.; Rensing, Stefan A.; et al. 
  GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 9 (6): 1528-1546 https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evx098  JUN 2017
• Visions of the past and dreams of the future in the Orient: the Irano-Turanian region from classical botany to evolutionary studies 
  Manafzadeh, Sara; Staedler, Yannick M.; Conti, Elena 
  BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, 92 (3): 1365-1388 AUG 2017 Article (Details)
• Fossils matter: improved estimates of divergence times in Pinus reveal older diversification
  Saladin, Bianca; Leslie, Andrew B.; Wueest, Rafael O.; et al. 
  EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, 17 (95) APR 2017 Article (Details)

• Plant breeding systems
• Evolution of polyploidy
• Biogeography
• Molecular dating

• Molecular cytogenetics (chromosome painting)
• Molecular biological control of the heterostyly supergene
• Comparative morphological development of homostylous and heterostylous flowers
• Paleobotany
• Paleoclimatic and paleogeographic reconstruction