ESSAY/SEMINAR TOPICS
Biol4130.03
Below, I list a number of topics and a paper that will form the starting point of your essay
and seminar for this course. I have somewhat loosely categorized the papers (in bold face
headings). You should choose one paper from the list for your seminar (or if you like
you can pick a paper not listed below, but you must have my approval if you wish to do
this). Your essay should more broadly cover the subject matter related to the paper but
the seminar can be more focussed on just 1 or possibly a small number of papers.
Please choose a seminar topic by next Wed Oct. 16. If you haven't, I will assign an essay
topic.
Crop plant evolution
1) Evolution of Cotton
Adams, K.L. and J. F. Wendel. 2004. Exploring the genomic mysteries of polyploidy in
cotton. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 82: 573–581.
2) Evolution of corn
Doebley et al 1990. Genetic and morphological analysis of a maize-teosinte F2
population: Implications for the origin of maize. PNAS 87: 9888-9892
3) Evolution of wheat
Levy A.A. and M. Feldmen. 2004. Genetic and epigenetic reprogramming of the wheat
genome upon allopolyploidization. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 82:607-613
4) Evolution of rice
Ammiraju et al. 2008. Dynamic Evolution of Oryza Genomes Is Revealed by
Comparative Genomic Analysis of a Genus-Wide Vertical Data Set. Plant Cell 20: 31913209.
5) Evolution of bananas
Ge et al. 2005. Population structure of wild bananas, Musa balbisiana, in China
determined by SSR fingerprinting and cpDNA PCR-RFLP. Molecular Ecology 14:933944.
6) Evolution of soybean
Doyle JJ, Doyle JL, Rauscher JT, Brown AHD. 2004. Evolution
of the perennial soybean polyploid complex (Glycine subgenus Glycine): a study of
contrasts. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 82: 583–597
Evolution of flower / inflorescence attractiveness
7) Harder, L.D. and S.C.H. Barrett. 1995. Mating cost of large floral
displays in hermaphrodite plants. Nature 373: 512-515
8) Campbell D.R. 1989. Inflorescence size: Test of the male
function hypothesis. American Journal of Botany 76:730-738.
9) Broyles, S.B. and R. Wyatt. 1995. A reexamination of the pollendonation hypothesis in an experimental population of
Asclepias exaltata. Evolution 49:89-99.
Gene flow
10) Bittencourt JVM and AM Sebbenn. 2007. Patterns of pollen and seed dispersal in a
small, fragmented population of the wind-pollinated tree Araucaria angustifolia in
southern Brazil. Heredity 99: 580-591.
11) Ellstrand N.C. and D.L. Marshall. 1985. Interpopulation gene
flow by pollen in wild radish, Raphanus sativus. American
Naturalist 126:606-616.
12) Smouse, PE, RJ Dyer, RD Westfall, and VL Sork (2001)Two generation
Analysis of pollen flow across a landscape. I. Male heterogeneity
across females Evolution 55: 260-271.
Inbreeding depression and Outbreeding depression
13) Eckert, C.G. and S.C.H. Barrett. 1994. Inbreeding depression in
partially self-fertilizing Decodon verticillatus
(Lythraceae): Population-genetic and experimental analyses.
Evolution 48:952-964.
14) Waser, N.M. and M.V.Price. 1994. Crossing-distance effects in
Delphinium nelsonii: Outbreeding and inbreeding
depression in progeny fitness. Evolution 48:842-852.
Pollination biology
15) Kearns, C.A. and D.W. Inouye. 1994. Fly pollination of Linum
lewisii (Linaceae). American Journal of Botany 81: 1091-1095.
16) Horvitz, C.C. and D.W. Schemske. 1988. A test of the pollinator
limitation hypothesis for a neotropical herb. Ecology 69:200-206.
Pollen competition, ovule abortion, gametophytic competition
17) Rigney, L.P. 1995. Postfertilization causes of differential
success of pollen donors in Erythronium grandiflorum
(Liliaceae): nonrandom ovule abortion. American Journal
of Botany 82: 578-584.
Evolution of sex allocation
18) Agren, J. and D.W. Schemske. 1995. Sex allocation in the
monoecious herb Begonia semiovata. Evolution 49:121-130.
Evolution of dioecy
19) Dorken et al. 2002. The evolution and maintenance of monoecy and dioecy in
Sagittaria latifolia (Alismataceae). Evolution 56: 31–41
20) Charlesworth, D. 2002. Plant sex determination and sex chromosomes.
Heredity 88: 94-101.
Hybridization in plants
21) Riesberg et al. 2003. Major ecological transitions in wild sunflowers facilitated
by hybridization. Science 301: 1211-1216.
22) Cruzan, M.B. and M.L. Arnold. 1994. Assortative mating and
natural selection in an Iris hybrid zone. Evolution
48:1946-1958.
23) Matos, J.A. and B. Schaal. 2000. Chloroplast evolution in the
Pinus montezumae complex: A coalescent approach to hybridization.
Evolution 54: 1218-1233.
24) Weller, S. G., A. K. Sakai, and W. L. Wagner. 2001. Artificial and
Natural hybridization in Schiedea and Alsinidendron
(Caryophyllaceae: Alsinoideae): the importance of phylogeny,
genetic divergence, breeding system, and population size.
Systematic Botany 26: 571-584.
Adaptive radiation in plants
25) Okada, M., R. Whitkus, and T.K. Lowrey. 1997. Genetics of adaptive
radiation in Hawaiian and Cook Islands species of Tetramolopium
(Asteraceae; Astereae). I. Nuclear RFLP marker diversity.
American Journal of Botany 84:1247-1255.
26) Weller, S.G., A.K. Sakai, and C. Straub. 1996. Allozyme diversity and
genetic identity in Schiedea and Alsinidendron (Caryophyllaceae:
Alsinoideae) in the Hawaiian islands. Evolution 50:23-34.
Phylogenetic studies
27) Bohs, L., and R.G. Olmstead. 1997. Phylogenetic relationships in
Solanum (Solanaceae) based on ndhF sequences. Systematic
Botany 22: 5-17.
28) Plunkett, G.M., D.E. Soltis, and P.S. Soltis. 1996. Evolutionary
patterns in Apiaceae: Inferences based on matK sequence
data. Systematic Botany 21: 477-495.
Polyploid evolution
29) Burton, T.L. and B.C. Husband. 2000. Fitness differences among diploids, tetraploids
and their triploid progeny in Chamerion angustifolium: Mechanisms of inviability
and implications for polyploid evolution. Evolution 54:1182-1191.
Husband, B.C. 2000. Constraints on polyploid evolution: a test of the minority
cytotype exclusion principle. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 267: 217-223
30) Baack, E.J., and M.L. Stanton. 2005. Ecological factors influencing tetraploid
speciation in snow buttercups (Rannunculus Adoneus): niche differentiation and
tetraploid establishment. Evolution 59: 1936-1944
Baack, E.J. 2005. Ecological factors influencing tetraploid speciation in snow
buttercups (Rannunculus Adoneus): minority cytotype exclusion and barriers to
triploid formation. Am. J. Bot. 92:`827-1835.
31) Ashton PA, Abbott RJ. 1992. Multiple origins and genetic
diversity in the newly arisen allopolyploid species, Senecio
cambrensis Rosser (Compositae). Heredity 68: 25–32.
Ashton PA, Abbott RJ. 1992b. Isozyme evidence and the origin
of Senecio vulgaris (Compositae). Plant Systematics and
Evolution 179: 167–174.
32) Soltis DE, Soltis PS, Pires JC, Kovarik A, Tate JA,
Mavrodiev E. 2004. Recent and recurrent polyploidy in
Tragopogon (Asteraceae): cytogenetic, genomic and genetic
comparisons. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 82: 485–501.