ID: 613 / 152

Category: Symposia

Track: Pending

Proposed Symposium Title: ORCHID PHYLOGENOMICS: DIVERSIFICATION, TRAIT EVOLUTION AND BIOGEOGRAPHY I

Abstract: Orchids (>27,800 species, > 750 genera) are the result of one of the most spectacular diversifications amongst the angiosperms. They have evolved a tremendous diversity in morphological, anatomical, cytogenetic, physiological, and ecological traits including those promoting highly specialised mycorrhizal and plant-pollinator relationships, with multiple independent origins of phenomena such as mycoheterotrophism, sexually deceptive pollination, and evolution of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism. Coupled with their nearly cosmopolitan distribution and their oft prominent place amongst world tropical floras, orchids stand as a model lineage for the study of the spatio-temporal dynamics of plant diversifications and character evolution as well as of the origin and maintenance of world landscapes. Understanding the drivers of this exceptional diversity requires well-resolved phylogenies and reliable diversification time estimates to facilitate interpretation of diversification dynamics. However, resolving evolutionary relationships in orchids has been challenging due to complexities such as hybridisation, chloroplast capture, whole-genome duplications, and shallow genetic divergence in rapidly diversifying lineages. Methodological advancements in phylogenomic approaches and bioinformatic analysis now facilitate new insights into complex evolutionary relationships, trait evolution, diversification dynamics and range evolution in orchids in the context of past environmental and climatic changes. This symposium will present advancements made in the field and discuss remaining challenges ahead.

Speaker 1: Name: Dr. Oscar A. Perez-Escobar Institutional Affiliation: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond TW9 3AE, UK E-mail: o.perez-escobar@kew.org Tentative Talk Title: The origins, geography and speciation of the hyperdiverse orchid family

Speaker 2: Name: Dr. Darren Wong Institutional Affiliation: Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia E-mail: darren.wong@anu.edu.au Tentative Talk Title: Recycle & Reuse: The prospects of repurposing transcriptomes for deep and shallow orchid phylogenomics

Speaker 3: Name: Consolata Nanjala Institutional Affiliation: Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University, P.O. Box 6811, Cairns, QLD 4870 E-mail: nanjala.conso@gmail.com; consolata.nanjala@my.jcu.edu.au Tentative Talk Title: Phylogenomic insights into patterns of diversification and trait evolution in Australasian orchids

Topics (Up to three): Phylogenetics and Phylogenomics

Topic 2: Systematics and Taxonomy

Topic 3: Macroevolution

Justification: Orchidaceae constitute the second largest plant family and their outstanding diversity attracts broad scientific interest. This symposium is proposed with two sessions to present leading research on orchid phylogenomics bridging six IBC topics (additional topics being: Biogeography/Phylogeography; Hybrids/Hybridization; and Bioinformatics). Proposed symposium speakers represent a diversity in career stages (1 PhD student, 2 postdocs, and 3 senior research leaders), cultures (African, Asian, European, Latin-American), and location of research institutions (from three major regions: Australasia, Europe, Latin America). The gender ratio is currently 67:33 male/female, however we are committed to bring this to at least 60/40 (either way) from abstract submissions.