This family exhibits great diversity in architecture. Some plants show ordinary shoots while others lack a shoot and among these the one-leaf plants possess one enlarged cotyledon as sole photosynthetic organ. Floral forms also vary greatly even within genera perhaps in response to pollinator adaptations. We study the genetic and developmental mechanisms underlying this variation in an evolutionary framework.

Projects:

• Generation of genetic resources for the model species Streptocarpus rexii (M. Möller, K. Nishii, Y.Y. Chen, et al.)
• Resolving the unifoliate : rosulate genetics in the morphologically flexible genus Streptocarpus (M. Möller, M. Hart, Y.Y. Chen, K. Nishii et al., in collaboration with T. Abe [RIKEN, Japan])
• Morphology and genetics of centric : excentric rosulate Streptocarpus (M. Möller, K. Nishii)
• Morphogenesis in Streptocarpus section Protostreptocarpus (M. Möller, K. Nishii)

Key Publications:

Nishii K, M Hart, N Kelso, S Barber, YY Chen, M Thomson, U Trivedi, AD Twyford, M Möller (2022). The first genome for the Cape Primrose Streptocarpus rexii (Gesneriaceae), a model plant for studying meristem-driven shoot diversity. Plant Direct (accepted Jan 2022)

Chen YY, K Nishii, C Kidner, CA Hackett, M Möller (2020). QTL dissection of floral traits in Streptocarpus (Gesneriaceae). Euphytica 216: e110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-020-02647-1

Nishii K, A Spada, M Möller (2020). Hormonal crosstalk in the regulation of meristem activity and the phyllomorph architecture in Streptocarpus (Gesneriaceae): a review. Rheedea - Special Gesneriaceae Issue 30(1): 96–115. https://dx.doi.org/10.22244/rheedea.2020.30.01.04

Nishii K, Y Fei, A Hudson, M Möller, A. Molnar (2020). Virus‑induced gene silencing in Streptocarpus rexii (Gesneriaceae). Molecular Biotechnology 62: 317–325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-020-00248-w

Chen YY, K Nishii, S Barber, C Hackett, C Kidner, K Gharbi, AJ Nagano, A Iwamoto, M Möller (2018). Building a genetic map: Comparison between de novo and reference-based approaches using RAD sequencing data in Streptocarpus (Gesneriaceae). South African Journal of Botany 117: 158–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2018.05.009

Nishii K, BH Huang, CN Wang, M Möller (2017). From shoot to leaf: step-wise shifts in meristem and KNOX1 activity correlate with the evolution of a unifoliate body plan in Gesneriaceae. Development Genes and Evolution 227(1): 41–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-016-0568-x

Contact: Michael Möller; Kanae Nishii