Plant Systematics
Our lab aims to understand the process and mechanisms of rapid diversification of angiosperm lineages. We are now investigating the evolution of Rhodiola L., a mid-sized genus whose radiation is in accordance with the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
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Speciation
Achillea L. species are classical materials for studying hybrid speciation since hybridization and polyploidy are common within Achillea. The East Asian is mainly distributed with two diploid and two tetraploid Achillea species (see above). It is hoped that our population genetic analyses would reconstruct the evolutionary history of the allopolyploid speciation of these species and thus to improve our knowledge of polyploid speciation.
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Evolution of Key Innovations
The capitulum is a key innovation of Asteraceae, and CYCLOIDEA (CYC) genes play important roles in its morphological variation. We are interested in unraveling the evolution of CYCs in Asterales and identifying genetic changes that are responsible for the morphological evolution of capitula in Asteraceae.
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Rao Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Peking University
Beijing 100871, China
Beijing 100871, China