Research 
Rubiaceae
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| Birgitta Bremer |  |
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| Kent Kainulainen | ||
| Anbar Khodabandeh | |
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| Åsa Krüger | ||
| Ulrika Manns | ||
| Sylvain G. Razafimandimbison | |
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| Jenny E. E. Smedmark | |
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| Niklas Wikström | |
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| Om projektet på svenska | |
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| Tribus tree | |
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| Rubiaceae 5 Conference |
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Biodiversity studies of a large tropical plant family: Rubiaceae
Birgitta Bremer´s research group at the Bergius Foundation, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Birgitta Bremer´s plant molecular lab at the Bergius Foundation is hosted by the Department of Botany of the Stockholm University. The members of the lab come from countries around the world to study one of the most important and diverse flowering plant families, coffee family or Rubiaceae. Rubiaceae is the fifth largest flowering plant familiy with over 13 000 species and mostly tropical or subtropical but with about five hundred species in the temperate regions. The members of the family inhabit various habitats and are important components of different ecosystems. There is a considerable diversity in habits and flower and fruit sizes and shapes, which attract various pollinators and a range of animal dispersers, respectively. Many Rubiaceae are economically important (e.g., Coffea, Cinchona as a source of quinine). Within the family we recognize three major lineages formally recognized as subfamilies, Cinchonoideae, Ixoroideae, and Rubioideae.
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Research conducted in our lab mostly involves using DNA sequence data and a range of phylogenetic methods to reconstruct phylogenies of different groups of Rubiaceae at all taxonomic levels. The phylogenetic hypotheses (resulting phylogenies) are used as frameworks for assessing relationships among different species or groups of species, pinpointing the phylogenetic positions of enigmatic genera, basing new phylogenetic classifications, and addressing ecological, evolutionary, and biogeographical questions. Parts of our research deal particularly with Madagascar and its many endemic Rubiaceae species.
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Current projects in our lab include the study of the higher level of phylogenetic relationships and character evolution in all subfamilies (Cinchonoideae, Ixoroideae, and Rubioideae), tribal delimitations (e.g., tribes Argostemmateae, Alberteae, Condamineeae, Gardenieae, Ixoreae, Lasiantheae, Morindeae, Naucleeae, Urophylleae), phylogenetic dating and biogeography (e.g., historical biogeography of the Malagasy Rubiaceae), taxonomic revisions (e.g., Bremeria, Schismatoclada). For more details, please visit the pages of the researchers and Ph.D. students currently working in the lab. A recent phylogeny of Rubiaceae is available ("Tribus tree" to the right side of this page).