RadiPhyte made use of a novel approach to quantify 3-dimentional (3D) floral phenotypes from herbarium collection, which was developed during the project. Thanks to this novel approach, RadiPhyte is the first large scale 3D geometric morphometric study on flowers, which together with expansive genomic data, allows the first macro-evolutionary test of how morphological innovations open new adaptive zones and promote radiation. Our extensive sampling of the diversity of the group under study, made it possible to test how the group evolved across geographic space and determine the relative amount of adaptive versus non-adaptive radiation. Despite numerous problems caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, we could sample ≥ 200 species of Dianthus instead of the 150 planned; the task was thus completed beyond expectations. The sampling covered the geographic, phenotypic, as well as the phylogenetic diversity of the genus. Our study was the first to include species from remote areas of the Middle East and Central Asia; this approach provided us with a complete picture of the spectacular radiation of Dianthus into the arid mountain habitats of the latter regions.
We employed customized Target Capture Sequencing (TCS), which allowed us to successfully sequence herbarium material of Dianthus. In total DNA for 285 taxa was successfully extracted, of which 277 Dianthus specimens. In order to gather 3D flower datasets from compressed herbarium specimens, we successfully developed a new protocol to restore their shape. Flowers of >120 species of Dianthus were imaged and digitized; this unique phenotypic dataset is ready to be integrated together with our phylogenomic tree to elucidate radiation patterns in Dianthus. Moreover, our novel flower phenotypic methods allowed us to address previously unanswered questions about the phenotypic variation and evolution of flowers. In addition to sampling at the genus level, we also sampled at the individual and population levels. Our sampling allowed us to elucidate patterns of shape variation (i.e. modularity) across levels and uncover new relationships between these levels. Thanks to our extensive sampling of the genomic and phenotypic diversity of Dianthus across Eurasia, the results of our analyses on the radiation patterns of the genus appear robust and promising.
The overall goal of the dissemination activities of RadiPhyte was and is a wide-reaching impact, uptake and use of the project deliverables among target audiences: scientists, institutions, and the general public. The dissemination activities focused and currently still focus on three channels: project publications, event attendance, and online activities. Most of our dissemination activities were interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and postponed to 2022. The outcomes of RadiPhyte will produce at least four scientific papers of interest to the scientific community; our results are currently under review in high-impact specialist evolutionary ecology journal, and further three papers are in preparation.
