One thousand plant transcriptomes and the phylogenomics of green plants

Abstract: Green plants (Viridiplantae) include around 450,000–500,000 species1, 2 of great diversity and have important roles in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Here, as part of the One Thousand Plant Transcriptomes Initiative, we sequenced the vegetative transcriptomes of 1,124 species that span the diversity of plants in a broad sense (Archaeplastida), including green plants (Viridiplantae), glaucophytes (Glaucophyta) and red algae (Rhodophyta). Our analysis provides a robust phylogenomic framework for examining the evolution of green plants. Most inferred species relationships are well supported across multiple species tree and supermatrix analyses, but discordance among plastid and nuclear gene trees at a few important nodes highlights the complexity of plant genome evolution, including polyploidy, periods of rapid speciation, and extinction. Incomplete sorting of ancestral variation, polyploidization and massive expansions of gene families punctuate the evolutionary history of green plants. Notably, we find that large expansions of gene families preceded the origins of green plants, land plants and vascular plants, whereas whole-genome duplications are inferred to have occurred repeatedly throughout the evolution of flowering plants and ferns. The increasing availability of high-quality plant genome sequences and advances in functional genomics are enabling research on genome evolution across the green tree of life

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ii Car sharing provides a lot of advantages for both car pool participants. Both, the driver and the passenger benefit from shorter driving time by avoiding traffic jam, from saving time for parking lot searching and from saving money by sharing the arising expenses (gas, parking charge). Furthermore, the environment profits from less CO2 emission. This thesis covers the implementation of a car pooling system. The main aspects besides the usability of the system are the architecture and the exchangeability of the particular tiers. The exchangeability is realized by Web Services. Web Services are shown from the provider’s as well as from the customer’s point of view. While the client illustrates the exchangeability for different technologies (multi channeling), the GIS tier shows the exchangeability relating to different providers. iii iv Acknowledgement This master’s thesis has been supported by numerous people in different ways: First of all, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Klaus Dittrich and Dr. Thomas B. Hodel for the proposition of the topic. Secondly, I appreciate Dr. Suo Cong’s support, who assisted me through technical problems as well as theoretical issues. In addition, I would like to thank the following people for valuable discussions and proof-reading (in alphabetical order): Rudolf Anner, Burcu Arasli, Philipp Spinner and especially Christian Stettler, who has supported me as a friend, as a technical advisor and has been a constructive critic. Last but not least, I would like to thank to my parents and my sister Naime. I would not have reached my goals without their limitless support. Dedicated to my fiancée Burc

Isolation and characterization of microsatellites for the neotropical dioecious palm Chamaedorea tepejilote (Arecaceae) and cross‑amplification in other Chamaedorea species

Palms are important components of tropical and subtropical ecosystems and have even been considered keystone plant resources that can support a large array of pollinators and frugivores. Palms are also economically important. Chamaedorea tepejilote Liebm. is a widely distributed palm with important bioeconomic potential for food, traditional medicine and ornamental purposes. Eighteen microsatellite primers were developed for C. tepejilote. Polymorphism and genetic diversity were evaluated in 71 individuals from four populations in Costa Rica. Thirteen loci were polymorphic and the number of alleles in the pooled sample ranged between 5 and 20, the average number of alleles was 10.61. Average observed heterozygosity was Ho = 0.607 ± 0.04 (SD) and the average expected heterozygosity was He = 0.600 ± 0.03. The exclusion probability of the combined 13 loci, was PE = 0.998. We tested transferability of the markers in the congeneric C. costaricana, C. pinnantifrons and C. macrospadix. Dioecious species are common in tropical forests; however, few studies have analyzed gene flow patterns in these species. The markers developed for C. tepejilote are an important tool to quantify gene flow patterns and the distribution of genetic diversity within populations. This information will be useful for the development of conservation and management practices of this dioecious tropical palm species.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologí