Plant Biology and Evolution

The geographical distribution of plant species varies in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area in response to adaptation and selection. Molecular techniques allows to know the present genetic structure and diversity of population and to test models of past geographical distributions and evolutionary events. Biogeography is an integrative field of inquiry that unites concepts and information from ecology, evolutionary biology and geology. We have studied the biogeography of several steppe plants that show a vicariant Mediterranean pattern (north Africa- South Spain; East-Western Mediterranean), also biogeography models have been tested in Macaronesian and island colonization grasses (Festuca).

 

Selected papers and books:

.- Moreno-Aguilar MF, Arnelas I, Sánchez A, Viruel J, Catalán P. 2020. Museomics unveil the phylogeny and biogeography of the neglected Juan Fernandez archipelago Megalachne and Podophorus endemic grasses and their connection with relict Pampean-Ventanian fescues. Frontiers in Plant Sciences, 11:819. A

.- Kergunteuil A, Humair L, Maire AL, Moreno-Aguilar MF, Godschalx A, Catalán P, Rasmann S. 2020. Tritrophic interactions follow phylogenetic escalation and climatic adaptation. Scientific Reports 10: 2074. A

.- Seidl A, Pérez-Collazos E, Tremetsberger K, Carine M, Catalán P, Bernhardt KG. 2020. Phylogeny and biogeography of the Pleistocene Holarctic steppe and semidesert goosefoot plant Krascheninnikovia ceratoides. Flora 262: 151504. 

.- Díaz-Pérez A, López-Álvarez D, Sancho R, Catalan P. 2018. Reconstructing the biogeography of species’ genomes in the highly reticulate allopolyploid-rich model grass genus Brachypodium using minimum evolution, coalescence and maximum likelihood approaches. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 127: 256-271 (doi 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.06.003). A

.- Viruel J, Forest F, Paun O, Chase MW, Devey D, Couto RS, Segarra-Moragues JG, Catalan P, Wilkin P. 2018. A nuclear Xdh phylogenetic analysis of yams (Dioscorea: Dioscoreaceae) congruent with plastid trees reveals a new Neotropical lineage. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 187: 232-246. A  

.- Arnelas I, Pérez-Collazos E, Devesa JA, López E, Catalán P. 2018. Phylogeny of highly hybridogenous Iberian Centaurea L. (Asteraceae) taxa and its taxonomic implications. Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology, 152:5, 1182-1190, DOI: 10.1080/11263504.2018.1435569. A

.- Marques I, Shiposha V, López-Álvarez D, Manzaneda A, Hernández P, Olonova M, Catalan P. 2017. Environmental isolation explains Iberian genetic diversity in the highly homozygous model grass Brachypodium distachyon. BMC Evolutionary Biology 17: 139. DOI 10.1186/s12862-017-0996-x. A

- Minaya M, Hackel J, Namaganda M, Brochmann C, Vorontsova MS, Besnard G, Catalán P. 2017. Contrasting dispersal histories of broad- and fine-leaved temperate Loliinae grasses: range expansion, founder events, and the roles of distance and barriers. Journal of Biogeography 44: 1980-1993. doi:10.1111/jbi.13012. A

.- Catalán P, López-Alvarez D, Díaz-Pérez A, Sancho R, López-Herranz ML. 2016. Phylogeny and evolution of the genus Brachypodium. In Vogel J (ed.). Genetics and genomics of Brachypodium. pp. 9-38. Series Plant Genetics and Genomics: Crops Models. Springer. New York (doi 10.1007/7397_2015_17). AA

.- Viruel J, Segarra-Moragues JG, Raz L, Forest F, Wilkin P, Sanmartin I, Catalán P. 2016. Late Cretaceous – Early Eocene origin of yams (Dioscorea, Dioscoreaceae) in the Laurasian Palearctic and their subsequent Oligocene – Miocene diversification. Journal of Biogeography 43: 750-762. A

.- Marques I, Montgomery S, Barker MS, Macfarlane T, Conran J, Catalán P, Rieseberg L, Rudall PJ, Graham SW. 2015. Transcriptome-derived evidence 1 supports recent polyploidization and a major phylogeographic division in Trithuria submersa (Hydatellaceae, Nymphaeales). New Phytologist (doi 10.1111/nph.13755).

.- Simon-Porcar VI, Pérez-Collazos E, Catalán P. 2015. Phylogeny and systematics of the western Mediterranean Vella pseudocytisus- V aspera complex (Brassicaceae). Turkish Journal of Botany 39: 472-486. A

.- Viruel J, Catalán P, Segarra-Moragues JG. 2014. Latitudinal environmental niches and riverine barriers shaped the phylogeography of the central Chilean endemic Dioscorea humilis (Dioscoreaceae). PlosOne 9(10): e110029. A

.- Inda L.A., Sanmartin I, Buerki S, Catalán P. 2014. Mediterranean origin and Miocene-Holocene Old World diversification of meadow fescues and ryegrasses (Festuca subgen. Schedonorus and Lolium). Journal of Biogeography 41: 600-614. A

.- Garnatje T, Pérez-Collazos E, Pellicer J, Catalán P. 2012. Balearic insular isolation and large continental spread framed the phylogeography of the western Mediterranean Cheirolophus intybaceus (Asteraceae). Plant Biology 15: 166-175. A.

.- Diaz-Pérez A, Sequeira M, Santos-Guerra A, Catalán P. 2012. Divergence and biogeography of the recently evolved Macaronesian red Festuca (Gramineae) species inferred from coalescence-based analyses. Molecular Ecology 21: 1702-1726. A

.- Viruel J, Catalan P, Segarra-Moragues JG. 2012. Disrupted phylogeographical microsatellite and cpDNA patterns indicate a vicariance rather than long-distance dispersal origin for the disjunct distribution of the Chilean endemic Dioscorea biloba (Dioscoreaceae) around the Atacama Desert. Journal of Biogeography 39: 1073-1085. A

.- Pérez-Collazos E., Sánchez-Gómez P., Jiménez JF, Catalán P. 2009. The phylogeographical history of the western Mediterranean Ferula loscosii (Apiaceae). Molecular Ecology 18: 848-861. A

.- Sharifi-Tehrani M., Mardi M., Sahebi J., Díaz-Pérez A., Catalán P. 2009. Genetic diversity and structure among Iranian tall fescue phenotypes based on SSR and EST-SSR marker analysis. Plant Systematics and Evolution 282: 57-70. A

.- Inda LA, Segarra-Moragues JG, Müller J, Peterson PM, Catalán P. 2008. Dated historical biogeography of the temperate Loliinae (Poaceae, Pooideae) grasses in the northern and southern hemispheres. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 46: 932-957. A

.- Diaz-Pérez A, Sequeira M, Santos-Guerra A, Catalán P. 2008. Multiple colonizations, in-situ speciation, and volcanism-associated stepping-stone dispersals shaped the phylogeography of the Macaronesian red fescues (Festuca L., Gramineae). Systematic Biology 57: 732-749. A

.- Cano-Maqueda J., Talavera S., Arista M., Catalán P. 2008. Speciation and biogeographical history of the Campanula lusitanica complex (Campanulaceae) in the western Mediterranean region. Taxon 57: 1252-1266. A

.- Segarra-Moragues, J.G.; Palop-Esteban, M.; González-Candelas, F.; Catalán, P. 2007. Nunatak survival versus tabula rasa in the Central Pyrenees, a study on the endemic plant species Borderea pyrenaica (Dioscoreaceae). Journal of Biogeography 34(11): 1893-1906.

.- Pimentel M., Sahuquillo E., Catalán P. 2007. Genetic diversity and spatial correlation patterns unravel the biogeographical history of the European sweet vernal grasses (Anthoxanthum L., Poaceae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 44: 667-684. A

.- Segarra-Moragues J.G., Catalán P. 2003. Life history variation between species of the relictual genus Borderea (Dioscoreaceae): phylogeography, genetic diversity, and population genetic structure assessed by RAPD markers. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 80(3): 483-498.