**6. Conclusion**

Although considerable progress has been made in recent years in the precision of the taxonomy and the discovery of evolutionary processes in the *Vanilla* genus (reproduction, genetic diversity, polyploidy, hybridization), many questions remain unanswered. These include elucidating the complex processes involved in genome dynamics and its possible implications on the genus diversification. Evolutionary pathways of important traits in the genus such as self-pollination ability and aromatic compounds accumulation in fruits, which are major targets for vanilla breeding, will need to be surveyed. Self-pollination appears as an ancestral character in the genus, shared by species from group and early diverging species from group . Furthermore, although allied genera possess aromatic fruit, this character is found in *Vanilla* within American group , but not in ancestral American nor in more recent species from Africa and Asia. The aromatic character of both flowers and fruit in *Vanilla* has evolved in a specialized relationship with euglossine bees involved in both flower pollination and fruit dispersion. This represents an exciting further area of investigation. Molecular and cytogenetic studies will have to be combined with morphological, history traits and ecological assessments to provide a thorough revision of the genus taxonomy. In particular, more data is needed to fully characterize the reproductive biology of *Vanilla* species and its implication on the levels of genetic diversity in natural populations. This will be essential to provide conservation guidelines for the many endangered species of the genus.

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**2** 

**The Origin of Diversity in** *Begonia***:** 

**and Phylogenetic Patterns** 

*Department of Health Care and Biotechnology* 

*King's Buildings, Edinburgh* 

*Hong Kong,* 

*1,5Belgium* 

*4PR China* 

*Plant Sciences Unit,* 

*2,3United Kingdom* 

A. Dewitte1, A.D. Twyford2,3, D.C. Thomas2,4, C.A. Kidner2,3 and J. Van Huylenbroeck5

*1KATHO Catholic University College of Southwest Flanders,* 

*2Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh 3Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, University of Edinburgh,* 

*4University of Hong Kong, School of Biological Sciences, Pokfulam,* 

Species diversity is unequally distributed across the globe, with more species found in the tropics than any other ecosystem in the world. This latitudinal gradient of species richness illustrates the complex evolutionary history of global biodiversity, and many studies have placed it in the context of geological history and rates of speciation and extinction (Mittelbach et al., 2007). Historical biogeographic studies, using molecular phylogenies calibrated with a relative dimension of time, indicate that the accumulation of this diversity is both ancient ("museum" model) and recent ("cradle" model) within groups (Bermingham & Dick, 2001; McKenna & Farrell, 2006). An additional layer of complexity that makes it difficult to untangle the evolutionary processes driving tropical speciation are biotic interactions, such as plant competition and parasite interactions (Berenbaum & Zangerl, 2006). Much of our understanding of the processes underlying speciation comes from mathematical models or studies of model organisms. However, some of the classical questions of evolutionary biology, such as what factors are driving speciation in species rich biomes, can only be understood by detailed evolutionary and ecological studies of

*Begonia* is a genus of about 1550 described species, placing it in the top ten most speciose angiosperm genera (Frodin, 2004; Hughes, 2008). This makes it an ideal model for studying the processes and patterns underlying the generation of diversity (Forrest et al.,

**1. Introduction** 

specious groups.

*5Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO),* 

**Genome Dynamism, Population Processes** 

