Arizona Public Media
Dec. 10, 2013
Evolutionary History of a Flowering Succulent to be Decoded
The UA Genetics Core has extracted and sequenced DNA from a locally held collection of adeniums, a sculptural flowering succulent. Matt Kaplan, a UA research professor, will analyze data and create a phylogenetic reconstruction, or evolutionary tree, explaining the relationships among the different populations of adeniums. This type of analysis often leads to changes in taxonomy or how species are classified.