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The Monocotyledones is,
with its approximately 55,000 species, the largest,
traditionally recognised monophyletic group
of angiosperms, and many species are of global
economic importance.
The late professor Rolf
Dahlgren (The Botanical Museum, University of
Copenhagen) was during the 70’es and until
the mid-80’es a leading figure in extensive
studies of the diversity and evolution of the
monocots. His monumental work (with T. Clifford
and P. Yeo) “The families of the Monocotyledones”
is the starting point of virtually all modern
monocot research and has been the impetus to
extensive collection of sequence data within
the last decade.
However, the phylogenetic
hypotheses based on different molecular data
sets do not give a simple, congruent answer,
and a large-scale synthesis of molecular and
morphological data is badly needed to get a
firm grasp on the evolution of the monocots
– and eventually of all land plants. A
strongly supported phylogenetic hypothesis is
a necessity both for basic and applied research.
It acts as a framework for our understanding
of morphogenesis, adaptations, and molecular
evolution, and it provides guidelines for the
utilisation of natural resources, e.g., in plant
breeding.
The research of the Monocot Group at the Botanical
Institute has the following headlines:
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The relationships between organismal evolution and
gene evolution |
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The phylogeny of the Monocots based on a number of
different genes (in coorporation with Kew
and Cornell) |
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The relationships between phylogenies based on molecular
and morphological data |
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The distribution and evolution of the different types
of mykorrizha |
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Morphology, anatomy, and ontogenesis |
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MADS-box
gene expression and molecular development of the monocot flower |
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The use of phylogenies to elucidate evolution of
pollination syndromes and adaptations (historical or phylogenetic
ecology). |
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