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SUMMARY:Characterising the evolutionary trajectories generating C4 photosy
 nthesis through inference of phenotypic transition networks - Ben Williams
 \, Department of Plant Sciences\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20120706T120000Z
DTEND:20120706T123000Z
UID:TALK38833@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Risha
DESCRIPTION:C4 photosynthesis has evolved on at least 66 independent occas
 ions within angiosperms. This convergence is remarkable\, as the C4 phenot
 ype consists of a complex set of biochemical\, cellular and anatomical ada
 ptations. Although recent advances have been made into understanding the r
 egulation and molecular evolution of C4 genes\, many important questions s
 urrounding C4 evolution remain: what is the number and order of evolutiona
 ry events required to generate C4? Have multiple C4 lineages evolved via t
 he same molecular changes? What has facilitated the multiple origins of C4
  photosynthesis? In this seminar I present the first computationally-drive
 n approach towards defining the number and order of evolutionary events ge
 nerating C4 in multiple lineages. Using data from C3\, C4 and C3-C4 interm
 ediate species from 44 independent studies\, we modelled C4 evolution as a
  dynamic process within a space defined by 16 phenotypic characters. Using
  novel inferential machinery\, we have characterised the evolutionary path
 ways on this space that are compatible with the observed phenotypes of C3\
 , C4 and intermediate species. From this we can construct a more detailed 
 blueprint of the number and order of changes required to generate C4 throu
 gh evolution.
LOCATION:Tom ap Rees\, Department of Plant Sciences
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