Determining The Asclepias Phylogenetic Tree Through Combined Target Enrichment & Genome Skimming

The milkweed genus Asclepias has long served as a model for studies of reproductive biology (Wyatt and Broyles 1994) and plant defenses (Agrawal and Fishbein 2008). Two American clades, the Sonoran Desert and temperate North American, contain up to 50% of the species’ diversity and serve as the main focus of this experiment. Resolving evolutionary relationships in these clades is crucial to determining the origins and early diversification of the genus, as well as the milkweed species (Fishbein et al. 2011). This project has been ongoing for many years now, collecting and extracting thousands of DNA samples. Through modern genomic sequencing technology and resources, specifically the Hyb-Seq protocol discussed in Weitemeir et al. (2014), the goal is to understand the historical origins for plant speciation.