Why Sequence Aquilegia formosa?
Aquilegia formosa photo courtesy Scott Hodges, UC Santa Barbara A central goal of biology is to understand the natural genetic variation that is responsible for environmental adaptations, leading to species and higher-order taxa. In order to understand the key features of angiosperm (flowering plant) evolution, we need genomic resources for model organisms from lineages reaching far back toward the base of the evolutionary tree. Aquilegia is a member of the basal-most eudicot clade (Ranunculales) and thus is positioned nearly equidistant between the current model systems Arabidopsis and rice. The genus has been used in numerous ecological and evolutionary studies, including speciation due to pollinator shifts, specialization for soil type, mating system evolution, floral development, and adaptive radiation (adaptation of different forms of organisms to different living conditions). The genus is especially well known for its diversity of floral form associated with different pollinators
