University of Basel

Department of
Environmental Sciences

Swiss Plant Science Web

Evolution in Action: New Plant Species at Urnerboden

Cardamine insueta has only recently emerged in Urnerboden, a small alpine village in central Switzerland. (Image: UZH, Rie Shimizu-Inatsugi)

Cardamine insueta has only recently emerged in Urnerboden, a small alpine village in central Switzerland. (Image: UZH, Rie Shimizu-Inatsugi)

A new plant species named "Cardamine insueta" appeared in the region of Urnerboden in the Swiss Alps, after land-use changes from forest to grassland over the last 150 years. The inheritance of two key traits from its parent plants enabled the newly emerged species to grow in a distinct environmental niche, as researches from the University of Zurich now show.

The research is a collaborative effort carried out under the lead of Swiss Plant Science Web members Prof. Kentaro Shimizu, Dr. Rie Inatsugi-Shizimu and their teams at the University of Zurich with other colleagues.

Reference publication
Jianqiang Sun, Rie Shimizu-Inatsugi, Hugo Hofhuis, Kentaro Shimizu, Angela Hay, Kentaro K. Shimizu and Jun Sese.
A Recently Formed Triploid Cardamine insueta Inherits Leaf Vivipary and Submergence Tolerance Traits of Parents.
Frontiers in Genetics. 6 October 2020. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2020.567262

Source
University of Zurich media release, 6 October 2021

 

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