Plant Science Bulletin 60(1) 2014 predicted 29 years ago that I would be sequencing a genome or doing population genomics on Amborella trichopoda! In looking back at all of the articles you’ve published in the AJB, which ones stand out above the others? Doug: “Allopolyploid Speciation in Tragopogon: Insights from Chloroplast DNA“ [76(8):1119, 1989]. This is one of our first papers on the recently and repeatedly formed polyploids in Tragopogon— this kind of got the ball rolling for us on this topic, which is something we have thoroughly enjoyed and one we have now invested considerable time and energy. It has been exciting to see more and more people interested in the Tragopogon system as the years have flown past. Interestingly, one of our most recent AJB papers is on these Tragopogon polyploids!
Pam and Doug Soltis, 2010. get their high chromosome numbers and large DNA contents through some other mechanism? Another favorite is “Genetic Variation in Tragopogon Species: Additional Origins of the Allotetraploids T. mirus and T. miscellus (Compositae)” [82(10):1329, 1995]. At the opposite end of the polyploidy continuum from the possible ancient polyploids in the monilophytes and lycophytes are two allotetraploid species of Tragopogon, which originated in the early 1900s. In this paper, we compiled all available evidence, from our own allozyme and DNA data to earlier data in the literature, to estimate the number of independent origins of these two species. It was a fantastic experience to pull all the data, from Marion Ownbey and his collaborators and beyond, together to develop a (then) comprehensive picture of polyploid origins.
“Angiosperm phylogeny: 17 genes, 640 taxa” [98(4):704, 2011]. This more recent paper culminates many years of interest in clarifying the backbone of angiosperm phylogeny. This paper represents the results of another large collaborative aimed at clarifying angiosperm relationships. Earlier papers in this series include rbcL by Chase et al. (1993) (“Phylogenetics of Seed Plants: An Analysis of Nucleotide Sequences from the Plastid Gene rbcL” Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 80[3]: 528, 1993), and the three gene analysis of Soltis et al. (2000) (“Angiosperm phylogeny inferred from 18S rDNA, rbcL, and atpB sequences” Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 133[4]:381, 2000). I like these papers because they illustrated well one of the real strengths of the botanical community—our ability to collaborate and work towards a common goal on a large- scale process. I feel that we (the botanists) really transformed systematics/evolutionary biology with these huge collaboratives—I think we can all be very proud of that.
Why have you chosen AJB as one of the journals in which you’ve published throughout your career? Doug: I’ve always loved the BSA—a great organization. It is important to support in any way I can. Plus, AJB is a quality journal run by quality people. It remains my top choice for getting papers out to a largely botanical audience.
Pam: “Electrophoretic Evidence for Genetic Diploidy in Psilotum nudum” [75(11):1667, 1988]. I really enjoyed working on ferns and other tracheophytes with independent sporophyte and gametophyte generations. Their genetic systems were nearly unknown at the time. Psilotum was an enigma, with high chromosome numbers suggesting ancient polyploidy, but diploid enzyme expression patterns. It set up a question still unanswered today: Are lycophytes and monilophytes with high chromosome numbers ancient polyploids with silenced genes, or did they
Pam: AJB continues to be the key journal worldwide for all of plant biology, from molecules to ecology. Its standards are consistently high, and editors and reviewers alike take their roles very seriously. The BSA provides strong support for the journal, and the journal has been and continues to be one of the most prominent facets of the BSA.
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