Acacia and related mimosoid legume phylogenomics

Aim: Phylogenomics Stage 2
Project initiation: Aug 2021
Project lead: Dan Murphy | Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV)

Photographer: Gwenn & Rodger Elliot, reproduced with permission from the State Botanical Collection, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.

Project description:

Related project: Acacia pycnantha reference genome

This project will generate a phylogeny of Australia’s largest flowering plant genus, Acacia, including close Australian legume relatives as outgroups. A selection of species representing all major evolutionary lineages of Acacia, previously discovered in molecular phylogenies and morphological classification, will be sampled by a national team of Acacia researchers and sequenced for a substantial phylogenomic dataset using the Angiosperm353 baitset.  This will initiate a co-ordinated approach to Acacia systematics research, based on a well-supported phylogeny, and will contribute to our understanding of the evolution of this major component of the Australian flora.  The Acacia phylogenomic project, in combination with phylogenomic data from close relatives of Acacia (including Paraserianthes), will allow access to Acacia phylogenetic data for many areas of research (e.g. conservation genetics, ecological studies and agro-forestry) and is expected to form the back-bone of a new formal classification of the genus.  The GAP Acacia phylogenomic project will integrate well with the existing GAP Acacia pycnantha genome project.