GENOMINT · Biogeography and natural hybridization in the genus Mentha

Biogeography and natural hybridization in the genus Mentha

Saving and promoting biodiversity is one of the greatest challenges humans currently face. Human activities, including plant cultivation, have the potential to drastically change native plant biodiversity. In particular, the release of cultivated taxa into the wild will allow previously isolated taxa to come into contact with each other. This can promote reproduction between closely related cultivated and local species (hybridization) which ultimately can affect the native biodiversity. The evolutionary outcome of hybridization between previously isolated taxa varies greatly. One possibility is that hybridization results in the formation of a new species that is reproductively isolated from its parents. Another possibility is that hybridization results in fertile hybrids. If the reproductive barriers between these hybrids and the parents are weak it is possible that hybridization will continue and that the original species barriers are erased. Hybridization between previously isolated species therefore has a great potential to change plant biodiversity. It is therefore important to study cases where cultivated taxa have escaped into the wild and come into contact with native plants. The overall objective of the GENOMINT project is to understand how hybridization between mint species affects the evolutionary ability and biogeographic history of mints as well as how it contributes to biodiversity. In addition, we aim to understand if hybridization between cultivated and native mints can transfer genetic material associated with human desired characters into local populations. In order to do so we take advantage of the vast plant biodiversity stored in herbarium collections. Technological advances in the past decades have also made it possible to access the genetic information stored in these collections.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз