Zuzi Chumova

The Czech Academy of Sciences | AVCR · Institute of Botany

Background and aims: Knowledge of diploid phylogeny and ecogeography provide a foundation for understanding plant evolutionary history, diversification patterns and taxonomy. The genus Anthoxanthum (vernal grasses, Poaceae) represents a taxonomically intricate polyploid complex with large phenotypic variation and poorly resolved evolutionary relat...

Polyploidy has played a crucial role in the evolution of many plant taxa, namely in higher latitudinal zones. Surprisingly, after several decades of an intensive research on polyploids, there are still common polyploid species whose evolutionary history is virtually unknown. Here, we addressed the origin of sweet vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum...

Flow cytometry (FCM) is currently the most widely‐used method to establish nuclear DNA content in plants. Since simple, 1‐3‐parameter, flow cytometers, which are sufficient for most plant applications, are commercially available at a reasonable price, the number of laboratories equipped with these instruments, and consequently new FCM users, has gr...

Although the evolutionary drivers of genome size change are known, the general patterns and mechanisms of plant genome size evolution are yet to be established. Here we aim to assess the relative importance of proliferation of repetitive DNA, chromosomal variation (incl. polyploidy) and the type of endoreplication for genome size evolution of the P...

Knowledge of population variation across species’ ranges is a prerequisite for correctly assessing the overall variability of any group of organisms and provides an invaluable basis for unraveling evolutionary history, optimizing taxonomy and devising effective conservation strategies. Here, we examine the genus Neotinea, which represents a relativ...

Madisonia has been delimited recently based on DNA analyses and morphological characters. In this article, we focus on Specklinia ordinata (Pleurothallidinae), a poorly known species. We obtained DNA data for this taxon and demonstrated that it is clearly a member of Madisonia. This species also shares morphological characters with Madisonia, in wh...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.607893.].

Non-coding repetitive DNA (repeatome) is an active part of the nuclear genome, involved in its structure, evolution and function. It is dominated by transposable elements (TEs) and satellite DNA and is prone to the most rapid changes over time. The TEs activity presumably causes the global genome reorganization and may play an adaptive or regulator...

Pabstiella elegans is newly described based on cultivated material originally collected near Chaucha in Ecuador. It belongs to the group of small, creeping species of Pabstiella section Mentosae and differs from its closest relatives by the two-times larger flower and unusual colour of its sepals, which are creamy white with red dots. It also diffe...

Polyploidization is generally considered a major evolutionary force that can alter the genetic diversity, morphology, physiology and ecology of plants. One striking example is the polyploid Urtica dioica complex, in which diploid taxa are often found in remote and partly relictual geographical ranges, in contrast to tetraploid individuals, which ha...

The unigeneric tribe Heliophileae encompassing more than 100 Heliophila species is morphologically the most diverse Brassicaceae lineage. The tribe is endemic to southern Africa, confined chiefly to the southwestern South Africa, home of two biodiversity hotspots (Cape Floristic Region and Succulent Karoo). The monospecific Chamira ( C. circaeoides...

Some of the most burning questions in biology in recent years concern differential diversification along the tree of life and its causes. Among others, it could be triggered by the evolution of novel phenotypes accelerating diversification in lineages that bear them. In the Pleurothallidinae, the most species-rich subtribe of plants on Earth with 4...

Andinia barbata is newly described based on cultivated material originally collected near Shaglli in Ecuador. It belongs to subgenus Aenigma and differs from all others in this group by the lanceolate lip, 2.5 times longer than wide, and unusually long and thick projections from the synsepal which gives a bearded appearance to the flowers. Phylogen...

Abstract Among the traits whose relevance for plant invasions has recently been suggested are genome size (the amount of nuclear DNA) and ploidy level. So far, research on the role of genome size in invasiveness has been mostly based on indirect evidence by comparing species with different genome sizes, but how karyological traits influence competi...

• In angiosperms, genome size and nucleobase composition (GC content) exhibit pronounced variation with possible adaptive consequences. The hyperdiverse orchid family possessing the unique phenomenon of partial endoreplication (PE) provides a great opportunity to search for interactions of both genomic traits with the evolutionary history of the fa...

Acianthera sudae is newly described based on cultivated material from Brazil. It belongs to section Cryptophoranthae and differs from all others in this group by the larger flowers and sepals fused apically for more than half length, and a green-brown abaxial side of sepals with purple dots. Chromosome number (2n = 40) and genome size estimation (1...

Divergent natural selection is known to facilitate speciation in many taxa. The genus Bolboschoenus (Cyperaceae) is a model group for investigating ecological and homoploid hybrid speciation. Four taxa of Bolboschoenus occur in central Europe: the halophyte B. maritimus and glycophytes B.laticarpus, B. planiculmis and B. yagara. These species diffe...

Nuclear genome size is strongly influenced by the number, size and morphology of chromosomes, and there is often a good correlation between genome size and total chromosome length within a karyotype. Because aneuploidy or the presence of accessory chromosomes has repeatedly been reported within the Anthoxanthum aristatum/ovatum complex (Poaceae), b...

The genus Anthoxanthum (sweet vernal grass, Poaceae) represents a taxonomically intricate polyploid complex with large phenotypic variation and its evolutionary relationships still poorly resolved. In order to get insight into the geographic distribution of ploidy levels and assess the taxonomic value of genome size data, we determined C- and Cx-va...