Monocot Phylogenetics and Trait Evolution

A fundamental and long-established distinction among flowering plants is between species bearing two cotyledons versus those with a single cotyledon. Of these groupings, only the monocotyledonous lineage remains well-supported by both molecular and morphological data. From the late 20th century onward, several factors have transformed monocot classification, including the use of large suites of morphological characters based on considerable comparative work, the advents of molecular phylogenetics and more recent next-generation sequencing, and the integrative and collaborative approach that underlies the monocot conference series. Today, there is a robust near-consensus on the monocot orders and their higher-level relationships. This improved phylogenetic context allows us to take a fresh look at trait evolution through integrated approaches such as evolutionary-developmental genetics. Monocots display a relatively stable vegetative and reproductive groundplan, typically characterized by linear leaves with parallel venation and trimerous-pentacyclic flowers. Within this framework, monocots can serve as a suitable model to understand how diversity has been established.

Our broad aim is to resolve one of the most crucial problems of evolutionary biology: understanding the relationship between molecular and morphological evolution with respect to monocots. Questions of morphological evolution require a modern phylogenetic framework to understand the essential connections between structure and function. Ongoing studies are fine-tuning existing molecular phylogenies, helping to us understand molecular evolution and gene expression patterns, and providing new and comparative empirical data that will allow improved hypotheses. We seek to examine the relationship between evolutionary trends and morphogenetic constraints, and the inherent properties that allow some monocot families to speciate far more finely than others. Such factors can be either intrinsic, such as greater flexibility of phenotype or genotype, or extrinsic, such as greater ability to form intimate symbiotic links with other co-occurring species, including pollinators and mycorrhizal fungi.

We will include contributions (both original articles and reviews) in the following themes:
- Monocot phylogenetics and phylogenomics;
- Evolutionary trends and morphogenetic constraints.