Evolutionary studies of the Gnetales
The Gnetales consist of three distinct genera, Ephedra, Gnetum and Welwitschia with considerable divergence among them regarding morphological, ecological and molecular characters. A longstanding debate of the similarity between the Gnetales and angiosperms and the unresolved seed plant phylogeny intrigues plant scientists to further investigate the evolutionary history of the Gnetales. The presented projects deal with interdisciplinary questions on proteomics, chloroplast genomes, phylogenetic relationships, gross morphology and taxonomy. The thesis aims to summarize general problems encountered in previous studies, and to provide new insights and future perspectives based on the results of completed and ongoing projects.
Chen Hou defends his thesis. Faculty opponent is Richard M.K. Saunders from the University of Hong Kong.
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