Trial Lecture
Title: "Mycoheterotrophy: What we know and what we don’t know"
Time and place: Apr. 3, 2025, 10:15 AM, Tøyen Hovedgård
Public Defence
Adjudication Committee
- Professor, Benny Bytebier, Bews Herbarium, Centre for Functional Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, Petra Korall, Systematic Biology, Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Sweden
- Associate Professor Kjetil Lysne Voje, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
- Research Director and Professor Hugo de Boer, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo
Supervisors
- Professor Brita Stedje, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo
- Professor Mika Bendiksby, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo
Summary
The Scilloideae is a subfamily of bulbous plants within the asparagus family, with greatest species diversity in southern Africa. Many species are difficult to classify because variation in visible traits does not always align with genetic differences. Reliable classification is essential for understanding and protecting biological diversity.
This thesis explores the evolutionary relationships in four challenging genera of Scilloideae: Dipcadi, Drimiopsis, Ledebouria and Resnova. Using data from both traditional and contemporary DNA sequencing methods, genetic relationships in the four genera are reconstructed. Additionally, it explores whether visible traits commonly used in classification are reliable for distinguishing species. The findings reveal that some species are well-defined, while others should be classified differently. We also find undescribed diversity and present one new species to science: Drimiopsis nana. Even based on advanced molecular methods, delimitation of these plants remains difficult, possibly due to rapid evolution and hybridization.
This work highlights the importance of combining information from multiple sources to classify species well. By evaluating and comparing different molecular methods for understanding evolutionary relationships, this thesis also demonstrates the importance of using methods that are scientifically robust but at the same time accessible to a broad research community.
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