Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney, Australia

Bicentenary Plant Diversity Program

Using Next Generation Sequencing to explore landscape-level processes in rainforest flora

Dr Hannah Mcpherson - ARC Research Associate, School of Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide

An important focus of the Bicentenary Plant Diversity Program (funded by the Foundation & Friends of the Botanic Gardens) is the investigation of the biogeography and evolution of the Australian rainforest flora through the use of an innovative technique known as Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), which allows us to investigate large regions of the whole DNA sequence of organisms. In this case we are looking at the DNA of rainforest trees found in the chloroplast. We have applied this methodology to a study on an important rainforest tree, red cedar (Toona ciliata; Meliaceae) (Figure 1).

This approach is very valuable for large scale, multi-species studies on species for which no preliminary data is available and, based on the success of the preliminary study, is now the main approach we are currently using in a large scale study across Australian rainforests.

Thanks to the support from Bioplatforms Australia Ltd, the study will be expanded in 2012/2013 to include a further 40 rainforest tree species. 

 

 

 

 

Toona ciliata in eastern Australia
Figure 1. Network and distribution of chlorotypes of Toona ciliata in eastern Australia