
Isabel MarquesUniversity of Lisbon | UL · Higher Institute of Agronomy
Isabel Marques
Doctor of Philosophy
About
177
Publications
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Introduction
Recognizing how speciation and extinction have both shaped the evolution of different organisms is a question that has greatly influenced the development of my career and of my research outcomes. Because evolutionary questions are usually quite complex, I generally apply a broad array of techniques (phylogenetic, demographic, ecological, modelling tools, among others) to make inferences about the evolution of lineages. My research interests span across plant biology (structure, function, diversity, genetics, evolution, systematics), all levels of organization (molecular to ecosystem), and all plant groups and allied organisms (cyanobacteria, algae, fungi, and lichens), and most especially on the roles of hybridization and polyploidy on species diversification and extinction.
Additional affiliations
January 2010 - December 2011
Education
September 2005 - June 2010
University of Lisbon & CSIC Madrid
Field of study
- Evolutionary Biology
September 1997 - June 2002
Faculty of Sciences
Field of study
- Biology
Publications
Publications (177)
Hybridization can generate new species if some degree of isolation prevents gene flow between the hybrids and their progenitors. The recruitment of novel pollinators by hybrids has been hypothesized to be one way in which such reproductive isolation can be achieved.
We tested whether pollinators contributed to isolation between two natural Narcissu...
Natural hybridization and polyploidy are currently recognized as drivers of biodiversity despite early sceptical views about their importance. The Mediterranean region is a biodiversity hotspot where geological and climatic events have created numerous opportunities for speciation through hybridization and polyploidy. Still, our knowledge on the fr...
Phylogenetic relationships within the magnoliid order Piperales have been studied extensively, yet the relationships of the monotypic family Lactoridaceae and the holoparasitic Hydnoraceae to the remainder of the order remain a matter of debate. Since the first confident molecular phylogenetic placement of Hydnoraceae among Piperales, different stu...
Interspecific hybridization is one of the most controversial—and usually neglected—issues in conservation due to its multiple evolutionary consequences that might include the origin and transfer of adaptations, the blur of distinctive lineages or the formation of maladaptive hybrids. However, despite different outcomes, most conservation laws do no...
Drought is a major constraint to plant growth and productivity worldwide and will
aggravate as water availability becomes scarcer. Although elevated air [CO2] might mitigate some of these effects in plants, the mechanisms underlying the involved responses are poorly understood in woody economically important crops such as Coffea. This study analyze...
A Special Issue is open in the journal: International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Q1, IF4.9): https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms/special_issues/15R27T6O9G
Flowers play a central role in plant reproduction and are key components of ecosystems. Many economically important crops and most of our food rely on successful flower development. Thus, unde...
Background
The nexus plant-microbe-environment is essential to understand the ecosystem processes shaping plant health and fitness. Within this triangle, soils and associated microflora are among the key ecosystem’s drivers, underpinning plant productivity and evolution. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis (physicochemical properti...
Fragmented forests often experience altered environmental conditions that can change species' behaviors and ranges, potentially leading to new hybridization opportunities. In some cases, hybridization can be beneficial, providing a genetic rescue effect for small, isolated populations by introducing new genetic material, increasing genetic diversit...
Increasing exposure to unfavorable temperatures and water deficit imposes major constraints on most crops worldwide. Despite several studies regarding coffee responses to abiotic stresses, transcriptome modulation due to simultaneous stresses remains poorly understood. This study unravels transcriptomic responses under the combined action of drough...
Poster presentations 630 the endosperm (nourishing tissue in the seeds) often leads to triploid inviability, known as the triploid block, especially in inter-ploidy crosses between diploids and their tetraploid descendants. This phenomenon is frequently observed in mixed-ploidy plants. While the mechanistic basis of the triploid block has been docu...
Hybridization and introgression are complex evolutionary mechanisms that can increase species diversity and lead to speciation, but may also lead to species extinction. In this study, we tested the presence and genetic consequences of hybridization between the rare and Ecuadorian endemic O. loxensis van der Werff and the widespread O. infrafoveolat...
1. Plant Molecular Responses to Cope with Drought In the face of climate-induced challenges, understanding the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying drought tolerance in plants has become imperative [1]. Unraveling these mechanisms not only offers insights into plant resilience but also opens avenues for enhancing crop productivity and environm...
The use of omic’s methodologies are determinant to advance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying plant response to environmental stresses. Among them, high-throughput transcriptome analysis is key to disclosing the expression of genes governing the complex regulatory network associated with plant
acclimation and tolerance to chan...
Climatic models have projected increasing harmful impacts of climate changes on natural and agricultural ecosystems along this century. The increase of atmospheric CO2 concentration ([CO2]) has been associated with a greater frequency of extreme weather events, as increased air temperature and heat waves, and altered rainfall patterns that boost fl...
Climate changes boosted the frequency and severity of drought and heat events, with aggravated when these stresses occur simultaneously, turning crucial to unveil the plant response mechanisms to such harsh conditions. Therefore, plant responses/resilience to single and combined exposure to severe water deficit (SWD) and heat were assessed in two c...
Salinity is an increasing problem worldwide that limits crop production. The cultivation of salt-tolerant flowers is a potential sustainable strategy for the exploitation of saline soils while avoiding the use of freshwater resources. However, our understanding of how flowers can adapt to salinity is still limited. In this study, we investigated th...
Chloroplast genome diversity in cork oak (Quercus suber) is characterised by the occurrence of haplotypes that are akin to those found in other Mediterranean oak species, particularly in Q. ilex and Q. rotundifolia, suggesting the possible presence of an introgressed chloroplast lineage. To further investigate this pattern, we reconstructed chlorop...
Ongoing climate change poses a great risk to the natural environment and the sustainability of agriculture [1,2]. Major abiotic stresses, such as extreme temperatures and drought, are already responsible for 51% to 82% of global annual losses in crop yield, a scenario expected to be aggravated in the future [3–5]. Thus, scientific advances have a s...
Ecuador has a high diversity of orchids, but little is known about levels of genetic diversity for the great majority of species. Understanding how orchids might adapt to changes is crucial as deforestation and fragmentation of forest ecosystems threaten the survival of many epiphytic orchids that depend on other species, such as fungi and their ho...
Soil salinization has become a major environmental and socioeconomic issue. Excessive accumulation of salts usually goes beyond the tolerance of most plants, except for halophytes that can thrive in saline environments. Despite this, establishment is still a crucial stage, often hindering the use of these species in degraded soils. Preconditioning...
Background
Understanding morpho-genetic diversity and differentiation of species with relatively large distributions is crucial for the conservation and sustainable management of their genetic resources. The present study focused on Annona senegalensis Pers., an important multipurpose wild plant, distributed exclusively in natural ecosystems but fa...
Climate change is negatively affecting the coffee value chain, with a direct effect on approximately 100 million people from 80 countries. This has been attributed to the high vulnerability of the two-mainstream species, Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora, to extreme weather events, with notable uneven increases in market prices. Taking into accou...
Climate changes (CC) are a main global phenomenon, with a worldwide impact on natural and agricultural ecosystems. The objective of this study was to analyse the potential impact of future CC on the suitability of areas
for rainfed coffee growth, both at the Mozambique national scale and in the Gorongosa Mountain, under Agroforestry (AFS) and Full...
The genus Limonium Mill. (sea lavenders) includes species with sexual and apomixis reproductive strategies, although the genes involved in these processes are unknown. To explore the mechanisms beyond these reproduction modes, transcriptome profiling of sexual, male sterile, and facultative apomictic species was carried out using ovules from differ...
Background
Sea-lavenders (Limonium Mill., Plumbaginaceae) are a cosmopolitan group of diploid and polyploid plants often adapted to extreme saline environments, with a mostly Tethyan distribution, occurring in the Mediterranean, Irano-Turanian, Euro-Siberian and in the New World. The halophylic Limonium vulgare polyploid complex in particular, pres...
World food production will need to increase by at least 50% to meet our future needs [...]
The diversity of genetic resources is essential to cope with environmental changes. However, despite forests play a crucial role in mitigating changes, genetic knowledge has scarcely been used for forest conservation. In this study, we used nuclear microsatellites to understand the patterns of genetic diversity and population genetic structure in O...
Ecuador is considered one of the most biodiverse countries in the world but currently has one of the highest deforestation rates in South America. However, genetic knowledge needed to sustain conservation actions is generally absent in most species. In this study, we developed eight nuclear microsatellites (nSSR) to study the patterns of genetic di...
Miombo is the most extensive ecosystem in southern Africa, being strongly driven by fire, climate, herbivory, and human activity. Soils are major regulating and supporting services, sequestering nearly 50% of the overall carbon and comprising a set of yet unexploited functions. In this study, we used next-generation Illumina sequencing to assess th...
Climate variability and change are among the major drivers of abiotic stresses and the concomitant vulnerability of agricultural production systems. With the advent of systems biology, the analysis of complex crop-environment interactions through integrated high-throughput approaches, such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, lip...
Climate change and the accelerated rate of population growth are imposing a progressive degradation of natural ecosystems worldwide. In this context, the use of pioneer trees represents a powerful approach to reverse the situation. Among others, N2-fixing actinorhizal trees constitute important elements of plant communities and have been successful...
Coffea arabica L. is as a tropical crop that can be grown under monocrop or agroforestry (AFS) systems, usually at altitudes greater than 600 m, with suitable environmental conditions to bean quality. This study aimed to assess the effect of altitude (650, 825, and 935 m) and light conditions (deep shade—DS, and moderate shade—MS provided by native...
Climate changes with global warming associated with rising atmospheric [CO2] can strongly impact crop performance, including coffee, which is one of the most world’s traded agricultural commodities. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to understand the mechanisms of heat tolerance and the potential role of elevated air CO2 (eCO2) in the coffee pl...
As drought threatens crop productivity it is crucial to characterize the defense mechanisms against water deficit and unveil their interaction with the expected rise in the air [CO2]. For that, plants of Coffea canephora cv. Conilon Clone 153 (CL153) and C. arabica cv. Icatu grown under 380 (aCO2) or 700 μL L⁻¹ (eCO2) were exposed to moderate (MWD)...
The climate crisis is pushing the planet’s tropical plants towards their limits [...]
Salinity is one of the most harmful abiotic stresses with negative impacts on crop growth and development. Monitoring land salinization is, therefore, a major global issue. One of the suggested solutions to support rehabilitation programs is the use of fast-growing salt-tolerant woody species, like the tropical trees belonging to the Casuarinaceae...
Drought is a major threat to coffee, compromising the quality and quantity of its production.
We have analyzed the core proteome of 18 Coffea canephora cv. Conilon Clone 153 and C. arabica cv. Icatu plants and assessed their responses to moderate (MWD) and severe (SWD) water deficits. Label-free quantitative shotgun proteomics identified 3000 prote...
Water scarcity is the most significant factor limiting coffee production, although some cultivars can still have important drought tolerance. This study analyzed leaf transcriptomes of two coffee cultivars with contrasting physiological responses, Coffea canephora cv. CL153 and Coffea arabica cv. Icatu, subjected to moderate (MWD) or severe water d...
A single plant might be visited by many flower visitors but not all might act as pollinators. Legitimate pollinators might also differ considerably in their efficiency, limiting pollination success. Unsuitable climatic conditions such as rain also affect pollinator activity. However, in the evergreen rainforest there is no prolonged dry season and...
(1) Background: the Miombo woodlands comprise the most important vegetation from southern Africa and are dominated by tree legumes with an ecology highly driven by fires. Here, we report on the characterization of bacterial communities from the rhizosphere of Brachystegia boehmii in different soil types from areas subjected to different regimes. (2...
Climate change scenarios pose major threats to many crops worldwide, including coffee. We explored the primary metabolite responses in two Coffea genotypes, C. canephora cv. Conilon Clone 153 and C. arabica cv. Icatu, grown at normal (aCO2) or elevated (eCO2) CO2 concentrations of 380 or 700 ppm, respectively, under well-watered (WW), moderate (MWD...
Leaf morpho-anatomical characteristics directly reflect photosynthetic performance and the ability to adapt to different environmental conditions. The study of biometric traits is essential for the selection of promising plant materials for breeding purposes. To identify new varieties of coffee plants with desirable traits for genetic improvement p...
Growing water restrictions associated with climate changes constitute daunting challenges to crop performance. This study unveils the impacts of moderate (MWD) or severe (SWD) water deficit, and their interaction with air [CO2], on the photosynthetic apparatus of Coffea canephora cv. Conilon Clone 153 (CL153) and C. arabica cv. Icatu. Seven year-ol...
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is a neglected crop native to Africa, with an outstanding potential to contribute to the major challenges in food and nutrition security, as well as in agricultural sustainability. Two major issues regarding cowpea research have been highlighted in recent years—the establishment of core collections and the characterizatio...
Understanding the effect of extreme temperatures and elevated air (CO2) is crucial for mitigating the impacts of the coffee industry. In this work, leaf transcriptomic changes were evaluated in the diploid C. canephora and its polyploid C. arabica, grown at 25 °C and at two supra-optimal temperatures (37 °C, 42 °C), under ambient (aCO2) or elevated...
Climate change is impacting locally adapted species such as the keystone tree species cork oak (Quercus suber L.). Quantifying the importance of environmental variables in explaining the species distribution can help build resilient populations in restoration projects and design forest management strategies. Using landscape genomics, we investigate...
As atmospheric [CO 2 ] continues to rise to unprecedented levels, understanding its impact on plants is imperative to improve crop performance and sustainability under future climate conditions. In this context, transcriptional changes promoted by elevated CO 2 (eCO 2) were studied in genotypes from the two major traded coffee species: the allopoly...
Cowpea is a multiple-purpose drought-tolerant leguminous pulse crop grown in several dry tropical areas. Its domestication center is thought to be East or West Africa, where a high level of genetic diversity is apparently still found. However, detailed genetic information is lacking in many African countries, limiting the success of breeding progra...
Growing water restrictions associated with climate changes constitute daunting challenges to crop performance. This study unveils the impacts of moderate (MWD) or severe (SWD) water deficit, and their interaction with air [CO2], on the photosynthetic apparatus of Coffea canephora cv. Conilon Clone 153 (CL153) and C. arabica cv. Icatu. Seven year-ol...
The pepper-bark tree (Warburgia salutaris) is one of the most highly valued medicinal plant species worldwide. Native to southern Africa, this species has been extensively harvested for the bark, which is widely used in traditional health practices. Illegal harvesting coupled with habitat degradation has contributed to fragmentation of populations...
Lista vermelha da flora vascular de Portugal Continental. Os autores apresentados foram os autores das fichas que deram origem ao livro
(1) Aims: Assessing bacterial diversity and plant-growth-promoting functions in the rhizosphere of the native African trees Colophospermum mopane and Combretum apiculatum in three landscapes of the Limpopo National Park (Mozambique), subjected to two fire regimes. (2) Methods: Bacterial communities were identified through Illumina Miseq sequencing...
This study unveils the single and combined drought and heat impacts on the photosynthetic performance of Coffea arabica cv. Icatu and C. canephora cv. Conilon Clone 153 (CL153). Well-watered (WW) potted plants were gradually submitted to severe water deficit (SWD) along 20 days under adequate temperature (25/20°C, day/night), and thereafter exposed...
Human malnutrition due to micronutrient deficiencies, particularly with regards to Zinc (Zn) and Selenium (Se), affects millions of people around the world, and the enrichment of staple foods through biofortification has been successfully used to fight hidden hunger. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the staple foods most consumed in countries with...
Casuarina glauca displays high levels of salt tolerance, but very little is known about how this tree adapts to saline conditions. To understand the molecular basis of C. glauca response to salt stress, we have analyzed the proteome from branchlets of plants nodulated by nitrogen-fixing Frankia Thr bacteria (NOD+) and non-nodulated plants supplied...
Background and aims:
It is accepted that contemporary allopolyploid species have originated recurrently, but very few cases have been documented using multiple natural formations of the same species. To extend our knowledge, we have investigated the multiple origins, genetic variation, and structure of the allotetraploid grass Brachypodium hybridu...