Format: ORAL

Rebeca Hernndez-Gutirrez1

1 Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, USA

The Malvaceae family outstands for its diversity in species richness, morphology, growth form, and geographic distribution. Unraveling the drivers behind such a high variation demands an integrative approach that leverages multiple data sources to yield a comprehensive picture of the evolution of this important family. It is known that numerous events of introgression occurred in the deep past of Malvaceae, which not only explains the pervasive phylogenetic discordance among genes trees, but also explains floral evolution in some subclades. However, the broader implications of introgression on floral evolution remain largely unexplored. This study aimed to quantify the extent of introgression among genera within Malvaceae and to assess its role in shaping floral morphologies. By examining a comprehensive molecular dataset of hundreds of single-copy nuclear genes across all nine subfamilies, we employed a maximum likelihood framework to ascertain introgression levels and direction. Floral evolution was examined applying a model that explicitly tests morphological evolution through introgression. This study illuminates the complex interplay between introgression and floral evolution, providing novel insights into the evolutionary processes that have shaped the phylogenetic relationships and diversity in Malvaceae.