Large-Scale Syntheses
SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS (2001-2005)
- Evolutionary models have been published (e.g. Davies et al., 2004), to shed light on the so-called ‘Darwin’s abominable mystery’ for the origin of angiosperm diversity
- The role of biotic interactions in promoting speciation has been characterized in model-taxa (figs-wasps, gesneriads, Cape plants, orchids, etc) in some major biodiversity hotspots (e.g. C and S America, S and E Africa)
- Improved DNA-based phylogenies have facilitated investigations of floral and pollen evolution to determine their origin and homologies
- Plant DNA C-values database was launched on the internet in September 2001 (www.kew.org/genomesize/homepage.html) and a systematic version was released in 2002, following the APG classification of angiosperms. It provides DNA C-values for 5,150 species of angiosperm, gymnosperm, pteridophyte and bryophyte, plus 253 species of algae. Since its launch the database has received over 100,000 hits from over 60 countries and usage is increasing.
- Kew was invited by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) to be the facilitating organisation for Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC): “to provide a widely accessible working list of known plant species, as a step towards a complete world flora”. Names for about one third of accepted plant species (in 106 families) are now available on Kew’s website (www.kew.org/wcsp/).
- Tools have been developed to produce preliminary conservation assessments of plant species from herbarium specimen data. This is a major contribution to GSPC Target 2: “preliminary conservation assessments of all known plant species”. Kew is also co-ordinating the Sampled Red List Index for Plants, potentially an important tool for monitoring global biodiversity loss.
- Approaches based on obtaining and superimposing chemical and ethnobotanical data onto DNA-based phylogenetic trees were used to study the relationships between plant uses and plant diversity, with a particular focus on species used traditionally to treat different medical conditions and in the control of insect pests
- Two large European grants have been secured to integrate European taxonomic efforts (EDIT, co-ordinated by the Natural History Museum, Paris link to project) and to enhance understanding of the evolution of diversity on a global scale (HOTSPOTS, co-ordinated by Kew link to project). Several Marie Curie fellowships have also been secured.
- A special issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society on ‘DNA barcoding of Life’ was edited by Savolainen and Cowan from Kew, in collaboration with the Natural History Museum, London and the University of Berkeley. Grants from the Alfred P. Sloan and Moore Foundations and the Darwin Initiative were secured to work on identifying the universal plant DNA barcode.
KEY ELEMENTS OF FUTURE PLANS (2006 onwards)
- Improve analytical tools and methodologies to provide a ‘bioinformatics toolbox’ that links phylogenetic trees, DNA barcodes and other taxonomic, evolutionary and ecological databases (EDIT)
- Implement the HOTSPOTS project on understanding and conserving biodiversity hotspots, including completion of nine PhD projects and production of an online e-atlas of speciation and conservation
- Continue to study the global patterns and processes for angiosperm diversity at various levels (e.g. molecular, substitution rates, energy theory, dispersal and biogeography, key innovations and correlates of diversification), and link evolution and ecology with conservation outcomes
- Continue to study biotic interactions in the context of evolutionary radiations and include the use of phylogenetic analyses to study the evolution of different aspects of plant-insect interactions
- Develop and implement a cost-effective strategy that establishes Kew in rapidly developing areas of plant and fungal science, including evolution of plant development and comparative genomics. This strategy will place the study of genes and genomes in the context of the phylogenetic origins of diversity.
- Develop and deliver a strategy to optimise the DNA , ecological and evolutionary aspects of plant-fungal research at Kew in the new laboratory facilities available to mycology in the Wolfson Wing of the Jodrell Laboratory
- To understand principles, processes and phenomena operating at different genomic levels ranging from DNA sequences to entire genomes and their parts that create and control the huge diversity in plant genome structure and organization (link to projects Genomic Studies in Angiosperms and Genomic Studies in Monocots)
- Continue to obtain and disseminate information about the economic uses of plants that contributes to sustainable use targets in the GSPC and Millennium Development Goals
- Develop the ability to link the International Plant Names Index (IPNI) records via Globally Unique Identifiers and launch IPNI as a web service
- Contribute significantly to Target 1 of the GSPC by making available, via the internet, global checklists for Monocots and selected other families where Kew has active research interest and continue to facilitate the completion of Target 1 by 2010 through collaborative project