The Cocoseae is one of 13 tribes of Arecaceae subfam. Arecoideae, and contains a number of palms with significant economic importance, including the monotypic and pantropical Cocos nucifera L., the coconut, the origins of which have been one of the “abominable mysteries” of palm systematics for decades. Previous studies with predominantly plastid genes weakly supported American ancestry for the coconut but ambiguous sister relationships. In this paper, we use multiple single copy nuclear loci to address the phylogeny of the Cocoseae subtribe Attaleinae, and resolve the closest extant relative of the coconut. We present the results of combined analysis of DNA sequences of seven WRKY transcription factor loci across 72 samples of Arecaceae tribe Cocoseae subtribe Attaleinae, representing all genera classified within the subtribe, and three outgroup taxa with maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian approaches, producing highly congruent and well-resolved trees that robustly identify the genus Syagrus as sister to Cocos and resolve novel and well-supported relationships among the other genera of the Attaleinae. We also address incongruence among the gene trees with gene tree reconciliation analysis, and assign estimated ages to the nodes of our tree. This study represents the as yet most extensive phylogenetic analyses of Cocoseae subtribe Attaleinae. We present a well-resolved and supported phylogeny of the subtribe that robustly indicates a sister relationship between Cocos and Syagrus. This is not only of biogeographic interest, but will also open fruitful avenues of inquiry regarding evolution of functional genes useful for crop improvement. Establishment of two major clades of American Attaleinae occurred in the Oligocene (ca. 37 MYBP) in Eastern Brazil. The divergence of Cocos from Syagrus is estimated at 35 MYBP. The biogeographic and morphological congruence that we see for clades resolved in the Attaleinae suggests that WRKY loci are informative markers for investigating the phylogenetic relationships of the palm family.

Mentor relationships are crucial to retention, success, and wellbeing of women and underrepresented minority scientists in academia. A network of diverse mentors may support achieving long-term career goals, advancement, and retention of both mentors and mentees, thus enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

The Tropical Andes is a diversity hotspot for plants, but there is a scant knowledge about patterns of genetic variation within its constituent species. Phaedranassa tunguraguae is an IUCN endangered plant species endemic to a single valley in the Ecuadorian Andes. We estimate the levels of genetic differentiation across the geographic distribution of P. tunguraguae using 12 microsatellite loci. We discuss factors that might influence the genetic structure of this species. Genetic distance was used to evaluate relationship among populations and geographic patterns. Bayesian methods were used to investigate population structure, migration, evidence of recent bottlenecks, and time of divergence. The 7 populations form 2 genetic clusters. These clusters show highly significant differentiation between them, along with isolation by distance. Allele richness decreases from the most diverse westernmost population to the least diverse easternmost population. The species overall shows an excess of homozygotes, with highest levels of inbreeding in the easternmost population. We found evidence of recent bottleneck events. Migration rates were in general low but were higher between populations within each of the clusters. Time of divergence between populations was related to historical volcanic activity in the area. Based on our results, we propose 2 management units for P. tunguraguae.

Phaedranassa schizantha (Amaryllidaceae) is an endangered species endemic to Ecuador and two varieties have been described: P. schizantha var. schizan