Taxonomy & food security
Tiina Särkinen, Morvah George
& Sandra Knapp

• PBI Solanum project funded by NSF
• Family Solanaceae
• Solanum ~ 1500 spp
• Cestrum, Lycianthes ~ 200 spp
• Nolana, Jaltomata ~ 80 spp
• Physalis, Lycium ~ 75 spp
• Nicotiana ~ 70 spp
• Brunfelsia ~ 45 spp
• Capsicum ~ 27 spp

• Tropical Andes: Overview
– > 7000 km long and up to 7000 m high
– environmental heterogeneity linked with high diversity
1. How taxonomy works?
2. Issues in taxonomy:
Case study of Solanum umbelliferum
4. Secondary research
• Phylogenetic work
• Biome mapping
• Conservation assessment
• Gap-analysis of tomato

Why do we need taxonomy?
Identification!
Solanum americanum L.
INFORMATION: distribution, ecology, etc…

All biological research is
based on taxonomy
Solanum americanum L.
Genetics
Ecology
Agriculture
Conservation
Resource management
…

1. How does taxonomy work?

Taxonomic work process
In herbaria …

Taxonomic work process
Other
Type Descripcion specimens
… in libraries …

Taxonomic work process

2. Issues in taxonomy

IDENTIFYING LIMITS OF NATURAL VARIATION
Solanum
probolospermum
Bitter

Taxonomic difficulties
• Variation within species = natural variation
SPECIES 1 SPECIES 2
NATURAL NATURAL
VARIATION VARIATION
• Plants have a diversity of reproductive systems, and
some of these can result in complex patterns of
morphological variation = problems in species
delimitation
– Apomixis (= production of seeds without fertilisation)
– Polyploidy (= duplication of the genome)
SPECIES 1 SPECIES 2
DISCONTINUOUS DISCONTINUOUS
VARIATION VARIATION

A species is a
hypothesis
about the
distribution of
variation in
nature

Solanum umbelliferum
Eschsh.

Classification of S. umbelliferum
Species and varieties
s d s Morphology y
Solanum umbelliferum
m m Non-glandular trichomes, often
r , n
Eschshh branched. .
Solanum umbelliferum var.
m m . Dendritic trichomes, forming a dense
c , g e
californicum Parish
m h tometose layer.
e .
Solanum tenuilobatum
m m Short, non-glandular trichomes.
, r .
Parish
h Hastate, linear lobed leaves.
, r d .
Solanum xanti Gray
m i y Usually un-branched, often glandular
y , n r
trichomes. .
Polymorphic leaves
c s
Solanum xanti var.
m i . Often branched trichomes, similar to S.
n d , r o .
intermedium Gray
m y umbell iferum. .
Leaf morphology similar to that of S.
f y r o t f .
wal i
lacei
Solanum xanti var.
m i . Glabrate. .
glabrescens Gray
s y Small leaves.
l .
Solanum wallacei Parish
m i h Long, simple, glandular trichomes.
, , r .
Large corollas.
e .
Cordate leaves at the base, ovate at top
e s t e , e t p
of plant.
f .
Solanum wallacei var. viridis
m i . s More glabrate than S. wall .
e e n . acei.
Parish
h

Geographic and genetic distance Solanum umbelliferum

Morphology with imposed genetic distance
PCA

3. Secondary research

Phylogenetic work
• Family level
relationships
• Clades within
Solanum
• Recent outputs:
phylogeny and
taxonomic
monograph of the
cultivated eggplant
and its wild relatives
(Vorontsova & Knapp,
submitted)

Solanum melongena, Solanum
aethiopicum, Solanum quitoense,
Solanum sessiflorum, Solanum
lasiocarpum
Solanum betaceum
Solanum scabrum
Solanum lycopersicum, Solanum
tuberosum, Solanum muricatum
Solanum aviculare

N. exigua Alatae N. sylvestris
N. cavicola N. tabacum 100
Repandae
N. benthamiana N. stocktonii
N. amplexicaulis N. repanda
Suaveolentes
69
N. rotundifolia Nudicaules N. nudicaulis 99
53
N. debneyi N. linearis
Acuminatae
N. simulans N. attenuata 63
82 65 N. megalosiphon N. miersii
N. umbratica N. bonariensis
N. fragrans
N. langsdorffii
82 N. longiflora
N. alata
Alatae
Alatae
100 N. plumbaginifolia N. longiflora
ITS 80 71
N. bonariensis
N. alata
N. plumbaginifolia
N. forgetiana 62
N. langsdorffii
N. exigua
N. forgetiana
matK
Repandae
N. amplexicaulis 86
N. stocktonii N. megalosiphon
100 N. repanda N. cavicola
Suaveolentes
N. nudicaulis Nudicaules N. umbratica 61
N. sylvestris Alatae N. rotundifolia
Acuminatae
N. quadrivalvis N. simulans
70 N. miersii N. benthamiana 81
90 N. attenuata N. debneyi
N. acaulis N. fragrans
Noctiflorae
N. glauca N. acaulis 78
Noctiflorae
72 N. noctiflora N. petunioides
56 100 N. petunioides N. noctiflora 69
N. linearis 64
71 N. glauca
N. glutinosa Tomentosae Tomentosae N. glutinosa
80 N. undulata Undulatae Undulatae N. undulata 81
N. benavidesii N. benavidesii
53
Paniculatae
N. knightiana N. knightiana
Paniculatae
75
76 62 N. rustica N. paniculata 60
64
62 N. paniculata N. rustica 100
92 56
N. solanifolia N. solanifolia
N. obtusifolia Trigonophyllae N. quadrivalis
N .tabacum Trigonophyllae N. obtusifolia
Tomentosae
100
Tomentosae
N. otophora N. otophora
95
N. tomentosa N. tomentosa 61

Fossil dating
• Adding fossil data to the
family phylogeny
• Modeling diversification
through time using
relaxed molecular clock
models (BEAST)
• OUTPUT: providing a
time axis for studies on
• chromosomal evolution
• character evolution
• crop domestication (in
deep time)

Hoorn et al.
Science (2010)

Biome mapping
• Using herbarium
data to map biome
distribution through
modelling
• Product: high
resolution maps at
continental scale
Sarkinen et al. BMC Ecology (2011)

• sgsga

Morrone's
Biogeographic
Map
WWF
Ecoregions
Americas Eva et al.
Base Land Cover
Map Map
Ecological
Systems
Map

Extinction risk in plants
• IUCN categories
assessed using
geographic range
• Role of ecological
specialisation in
extinction risk in
plants currently
unexplored

Extinction risk in plants
• Focus on Peru
• Hunt for new populations
of endemic species
• Comparison of ecological
and geographic range
sizes
-> Are narrowly restricted
species more ecologically
specialised?

Tomato gap analysis
• Long history of CWR
use in breeding
• Extensive germplasm
collections for nearly
all CWR
• Nearly all resistance
traits thus far have
been introduced from
CWR

Recent species discoveries
• Peralta et al. 2005:
Solanum peruvianum s.l. split into four
species
• Solanum peruvianum s.s. - coastal
• Solanum corneliomulleri - mountains
• Solanum huaylasense - Santa valley
• Solanum arcanum - Marañon valley

Species Traits introduced Other known traits
Solanum pimpinellifolium Fruit shape and size; broad specturm root nematod Color and fruit quality; Drought & general abiotic
resistance and other disease resistance traits stress tolerance; Leaf mold resistance; salt
tolerance
Solanum cheesmaniae Black mold resistance, introduction of the jointless pedicel Fruit qualities; Salt and drought tolerance; Viral
gene pathogen and lepidoptera resistance
Solanum galapagense Salt tolerance Salt tolerance
Solanum corneliomulleri
Solanum pennellii Resistance to bacterial spot, fungal diseases, soil borne Drought & insect pest resistance; salt tolerance;
diseases, insect resistance, salt tolerance,
Solanum habrochaites Yield improvement, fruit quality, resistance to insect Cold and frost tolerance; Resistance to red spider
predators, alfa-alfa mosaic virus, potyviruses, bacterial mites, general insect resistance, bacteria speck,
canker, tomato leaf mold, tomato yellow leaf curl virus and root know nematode, fungal pathogens, viruses
tomato mosaic virus
Solanum chilense Broad spectrum disease resistance (bacterial, fungal, Drought tolerance; fruit quality (soluable solid
viral; root knot nematodes; parasitic plants) content, firmness and viscosity)
Solanum huaylasense
Solanum peruvianum Resistance to tobacco mosaic virus, tomato spotted wilt Drought resistance; Resistence to early blight, leaf
virus, tomato yellow leaf curl virus, and corky root rot mould, fusarium wilt, septoria leaf spot, bacterial
wilt, tobacco mosaic virus, root know nematodes,
potato aphids, tomato leaf curl virus
Solanum arcanum Cold resistance, resistance to bacterial and fungal Drought tolerance; Resistance to powdery mildew
diseases, heat stable root nematode resistance
Solanum chmielewskii Fruit sugar content Flowering time; leaf number per node
Solanum neorickii Inflorescences density Drought resistance; fruit quality
Solanum lycopersicoides Cold, pest and pathogen resistance Extreme abiotic stress tolerance
Solanum sitiens Drought tolerance
Solanum juglandifolium Cold and frost tolerance
Solanum ochranthum Cold and frost tolerance

Herbarium collections Germplasm collections

36% of the estimated undescribed plant species are in
Tropical Andes!
This translates to 7872 plant species waiting to be
discovered in the Andes, most of which are in Peru and
Ecuador

Thank you!

Taxonomic outputs
Kew Bibliographic Database http://kbd.kew.org/kbd/searchpage.do