Plant Evolution and Systematics

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.

• An expanded molecular phylogeny of Plumbaginaceae, with emphasis on Limonium (sea lavenders): Taxonomic implications and biogeographic considerations
  Koutroumpa, K; Theodoridis, S; Warren, B; Jimenez, A; Celep, F; Dogan, M; Romeiras, MM; Santos-Guerra, A; Fernandez-Palacios, JM; Caujape-Castells, J; Moura, M; de Sequeira, MM; Conti, E
  ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 8 (24):12397-12424; 10.1002/ece3.4553 DEC 2018
• The evolutionary roles of hybridization and introgression: investigating species and genomic boundaries using the model plant system Primula (Primulaceae)
  Stubbs, RL; Theodoridis, S; Keller, B; Conti, E
  INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY, 59 E417-E417; 1 MAR 2019
• 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

• 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