Proposed Symposium Title: SOLANACEAE: BIOLOGY, SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTION
Abstract: The Solanaceae family, also referred to as nightshades, includes a broad diversity of morphologies and habits. It has a peculiar evolutionary history with a growing set of fossil taxa that are helping to resolve the intriguing biogeography and timeline of this family. Solanaceae contain 99 genera and about 2700 species, many of which have become models for evolutionary studies and many others that are vital sources of medicinal drugs, folk remedies, hallucinogens, and widespread stimulants.
The list of Solanaceae with full or publicly available high-quality and draft genomes is becoming richer, which allows the characterization Solanaceae “sequence space” to broaden our understanding of genomics, evolution, phylogeny, biogeography, taxonomy, among other topics. New lines of research are being continuously developed, establishing new species as models for different types of studies, from crop improvement to evolutionary pathways of different plant organs. These changes are rapid and spread across the globe. Thus, it is important to strengthen communication and collaboration across research groups to advance an integrated research program. Over the last few years, SOL genomics conferences (https://solgenomics.net/) and SOL Seminars Online (https://physaloidseminars.weebly.com/) have provided a virtual platform to discuss research within Solanaceae, encouraging collaboration, aiding in sharing information, and promoting quality research. After the last in-person Solanaceae meeting in 2019, we think the XX International Botanical Congress will be a great opportunity to share our research and enhance discussion and collaboration.
Speaker 1: Sandra Knapp
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, UK
s.knapp@nhm.ac.uk
Talk title: Community cohesion in Solanaceae research
Speaker 2: Federico Roda
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá, Carrera 45, 2685, Colombia
frodaf@unal.edu.co
Talk title: Evolution of sacred plants
Speaker 3: Natalia Pabón Mora
Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Antioquía, Calle 67, 53-108, Aranjuez, Medellín, Colombia.
Talk title: Comparative fruit anatomy in Solanaceae and putative genes involved in fruit variation
Topics (Up to three): Systematics
Topic 2: Macroevolution
Topic 3: Development and Structure
Justification: This Symposium will bring several topics being focused on a particular plant family. These includes at least Systematics and taxonomy, Phylogenetics and Phylogenomics, Macroevolution, and Development and Structure. Even that seminars and meetings on Solanaceae have been virtually performed during the last years, the Solanaceae community, and botanists in general, will be highly benefited to have this meeting in person, especially considering that many will attend to the IBC. This symposium will focus in the most recent research in Solanaceae, bringing together the leader researchers in the family with the younger generations who are starting in the area.
