Format: ORAL

Sassone, Agostina B.12, Blattner, Frank R.1

1 Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben, Germany 2 Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Balcarce, Argentina

Nothoscordum (tribe Leucocoryneae) is a New World genus distributed mainly in South America. The huge number of species (ca. 60 new species described in the last three decades out of a total of 89 accepted species at POWO), and the difficulty or impossibility of contrasting the description with types, illustrations, and keys to species has created a taxonomic confusion. This problematic scenario together with the complexity of finding diagnostic characters and the presence of reticulate patterns in the evolution of the genus, has made the identification of the species a real challenge. The aim of our research is to integrate different disciplines to define taxa within Nothoscordum as part of the main goal of reconstructing the evolutionary history of the tribe Leucocoryneae. We have gathered 130 specimens and inferred their phylogeny based on the complete chloroplast genome and genome-wide GBS loci, and collected where possible cytogenetic data. Furthermore, we have statistically analyzed morphological data from included specimens in molecular analyses as well as from type specimens (matrix size: 32 characters x 160 specimens). As a result, the gathered information agrees at some taxonomic levels (e.g., sections within Nothoscordum) but only partially in other cases (e.g., on the species level). Traditional morphological characters used to distinguish species are in most cases not enough to discern them, and it is important to consider molecular data, phenology, and ecological traits as well. Karyotypes are also helping to discriminate some monophyletic groups. In summary, we will dive into the challenges of linking the different datasets, and the new questions that have emerged.