The Group of Ge Song: Plant Evolutionary Biology and Conservation Genetics

Members               The brief introduction of the group leader        Research directions        Selected publications

 Research directions  On going research projects      The research fields can be cooperated with          

Members:

Dr. Song Ge, Professor, Principle Investigator

Dr. Shi-liang Zhou, Associate Professor

Dr. Fu-min Zhang, Assistant Professor

Mr. Hai-fei Zhou, Research Assistant Emeritus

Postdoctors and Students: 10

The brief introduction of the group leader

Dr. Song Ge graduated from Nanjing Forestry University with his bachelor and master degrees. In 1993, he obtained his PhD degree in Plant Systematics and Evolution in the Institute of Botany, CAS and has worked in the institute since then. From 1996 to 1998, as a visiting scholar, he conducted a few of collaborative projects in the Department of Biology of Washington University, USA (with Barbara A. Schaal) and Department of Plant Pathology and Botany of Michigan State University, USA (with Tao Sang).

Currently Dr. Ge is the director of the Centre and the Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, CAS. Dr. Ge¡¯s interests have ranged over a variety of botanical subjects including conservation genetics, biosystematics, molecular systematics and evolutionary biology. He has published 110 scientific papers in these areas. His recent activities have been focused on molecular phylogeny and evolution of the rice genus (Oryza) and conservation genetics of Chinese rare and endangered plants (Orchids, Cathaya, etc.).

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Research directions

(1) Molecular Systematics and Evolution ¨C Rapid development in molecular systematics and evo lution has dramatically reshaped our views of organismal relationships and evolution. In our group a variety of genetic markers are used to make inferences about phylogeny of a few of plant groups such as Adenophora, Mosla, Aconitum, in particular the rice genus Oryza. At the same time, we are interested in investigating the molecular evolution of particular gene and gene families including their rates, processes, and constraints on molecular change through time.

(2) Population Biology and Evolutionary Biology ¨C Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. With emphasizing a few of plant groups such as the genera of Oryza, Mosla, Adenophora, Aconitum as well as some conifers and orchids, we utilize different approaches to study the genetic structure and dynamics of natural populations, the mating system, the processes and mechanism of speciation as well as the co-evolution between plants and animals or fungi.

(3) Conservation Genetics -- The genetic resources or genetic diversity within a species not only provides the raw material for the future adaptation and evolution of that species but also a 'genetic bank¡¯ of hereditary material that can be used in various ways. Recent developments in molecular genetics have facilitated conservation genetics research, the interface between population genetics and conservation biology. Conservation genetics studies in our group are focused on Chinese rare and endangered plants as well as the important relatives of crop plants such as wild rice.

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On going research projects

(1) Molecular Phylogeny and Molecular Evolution of the Genus Oryza. -- Chinese National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scientists--NSFC (Grant No: 30025005)

(2) Evo-Devo Studies on Plant Evolution. Chinese National Science Fund for Innovation Research Group--NSFC (Grant No: 30121003)

(3) Dynamics and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity and Regional Ecological Security in the Yangtze Valley. The State Key Basic Research and Development Plan of China (Grant Nos: G2000046805; G2000046806)

(4) Phylogenetic Reconstruction and Molecular Evolution of the Selected Plant Groups. The Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No: kscxz-sw-101A)

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The research fields can be cooperated with

(1) Molecular phylogeny and evolution (with special emphasis on the rice tribe and genus)

(2) Speciation and molecular biogeography (in particular the Oryza spp.)

(3) Conservation genetics and management (with emphasis on the rare and endangered plants)

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Selected publications

(40) Zou X-H, Zhang F-M, Zhang J-G, Zang L-L, Tang L, Wang J, Sang T, Ge S*. 2008. Analysis of 142 genes resolves the rapid diversification of the rice genus. Genome Biology 9: R49 

(39) Xu X-W, Ke W-D, Yu X-P, Wen J, Ge S*. 2008. A preliminary study on population genetic structure and phylogeography of the wild and cultivated Zizania latifolia (Poaceae) based on Adh1a sequences. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 116: 835–843

(38) Tian S, Li D-R, Wang H-W, Ge S, Zhang Z-Y.* 2008. Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of a montane pine (Pinus kwangtungensis Chun ex Tsiang) in south China: Interglacial refugia and southward migration during cold stages. Annals of Botany 102: 69-78

(37) López-Pujol1 J, Zhang F-M, Ge S. 2008. No correlation between heterozygosity and fitness in the narrow endemic and critically endangered Clematis acerifolia (Ranunculaceae). Biochemical Genetics 46: 433-445

(36) Guo A-Y, Zhu Q-H, Gu X, Ge S, Yang J, Luo J. 2008. Genome-wide identification and evolutionary analysis of the plant specific SBP transcription factor family. Gene 418: 1-8

(35) Vaughan D A, Ge S, Kaga A, Tomooka N. 2008. Phylogeny and biogeography of the genus Oryza. In: Hirano H-Y; Hirai A; Sano Y; Sasaki T (eds.) Rice Biology in the Genomics Era, Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry. Vol. 62. Springer, pp. 219-234

(34) Yuan Q-J, Zhang Z-Y, Peng H, Ge S. 2008. Chloroplast phylogeography of Dipentodon (Dipentodontaceae) in southwest China and northern Vietnam. Molecular Ecology 17: 1054-1065

(33) Zhu Q, Zheng X, Luo J, Gaut B S, Ge S*. 2007. Multilocus analysis of nucleotide variation of Oryza sativa and its wild relatives: severe bottleneck during domestication of rice. Molecular Biology and Evolution 24: 875-888

(32) Zhang Z-Y, Zheng X-M, Ge S*. 2007. Population genetic structure of Vitex negundo (Verbenaceae) in Three-Gorge Area of the Yangtze River: the impact of rivers on gene flow in plants. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 35:506-516

(31) Shi X, Wang X, Li Z, Zhu Q, Yang J, Ge S*, Luo J*. 2007. Evidence that natural selection is the primary cause of the GC content variation in rice genes. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology 49: 1393-1399

(30) Wang H-W, Ge S*. 2006. Phylogeography of the endangered Cathaya argyrophylla (Pinaceae) inferred from sequence variation of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. Molecular Ecology 15: 4109-4123

(29) Sun K, Chen W, Ma R-J, Chen X, Li A, Ge S*. 2006. Genetic variation in Hippophae rhamnoides subsp. sinensis (Elaeagnaceae) revealed by RAPD markers. Biochemical Genetics 44: 186-197

(28) Wang X-Y, Shi X-L, Li Z, Zhu Q-H, Kong L, Tang W, Ge S, Luo J-C. 2006. Statistical inference of chromosomal homology based on gene colinearity and applications to arabidopsis and rice. BMC Bioinformatics 7: 447

(27) Shi X-L, Wang X-Y, Li Z, Zhu Q-H, Tang W, Ge S*, Luo J-C*. 2006. Nucleotide substitution pattern in rice paralogues: implication for negative correlation between the synonymous substitution rate and codon usage bias. Gene 376: 199-206

(26) Li A, Ge S*. 2006. Genetic variation in Changnienia amoena, an endangered orchid endemic to China. Plant Systematics and Evolution 258: 251-260

(25) Sun H-Q, Luo Y-B, Alexandersson R, Ge S*. 2006. Pollination and pollen flow of the endanged orchid, Changnienia amoena (Orchidaceae). Botanical Journal of Linnean Society 150, 165-175

(24) Liu Q, Ge S, Tang H, Zhang X, Zhu G, Lu B-R*. 2006. Phylogenetic relationships in Elymus (Poaceae: Triticeae) based on the nuclear ribosomal ITS and chloroplast trnL-F sequences. New Phytologist 170: 411-420

(23) Zhu Q-H, Ge S*. 2005. Phylogenetic relationships among A-genome species of the genus Oryza revealed by intron sequences of four nuclear genes. New Phytologist 167: 249-265

(22) Guo Y-L, Ge S* 2005. Molecular phylogeny of Oryzeae (Poaceae) based on DNA sequences from chloroplast, mitochrondrial and nuclear genomes. American Journal of Botany 92:1548-1558

(21) Gao L-Z, Hong D-Y, Ge S. 2005. Patterns of allozyme variation at two stages of the life history in wild rice Oryza rufipogon and conservation genetic implications. Biodiversity and Conservation 14: 2821-2834

(20) Ge S, Guo Y-L, Zhu Q-H. 2005. Molecular phylogeny and divergence of the rice tribe (Oryzeae), with special reference to the origin of the genus Oryza. In Toriyama K, Heong K L, Hardy B (eds), Rice is life: scientific perspectives for the 21st century. Philippines: IRRI. Pp. 40-44.

(19) Zhang F-M, Chen W-L, Yang Q-E, Ge S*. 2005. RAPD variation and population genetic structure in the Acomitum delavayi complex (Ranunculaceae), a diploid species group distributed mainly in the Hengduan Mountains of China. Plant Systematics and Evolution 254: 39-48

(18) Wang X, Shi X, Hao B, Ge S*, Luo J*. 2005. Evidence that rice and other cereals have a common ancient tetraploid progenitor. New Phytologist 165: 937-946

(17) Bao Y, Lu B R, Ge S*. 2005. Identification of genomic constitutions of Oryza species with the B and C genomes species by the PCR-RFLP method. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 52: 69-76 

(16) Bao Y, Ge S. 2004. Origin and Phylogeny of Oryza species with the CD genome based on multiple-gene sequence data. Plant Systematics and Evolution 249: 55-66

(15) Zhou H-F, Xie Z-W, Ge S. 2003. Microsatellite analysis of genetic diversity and population genetic structure of a wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) in China. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 107: 332-339

(14) Zhang F-M, Kong H-Z, Ge S. 2003. Allozyme variation and population differentiation of Aconitum delavayi complex (Ranunculaceae) in Hengduan Mountains of China. Biochemical Genetics 41: 47-55

(13) Ge S, Li A, Lu B-R, Sang T, Zhang S-Z, Hong D-Y. 2002. A phylogeny of the rice tribe Oryzaeae based on matK sequence data. American Journal of Botany 89:1967-1972

(12) Sun K, Chen X-L, Ma R-J, Li C-B, Wang Q, Ge S. 2002. Molecular phylogenetics of Hippophae L.(Elaeagnaceae) based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of nrDNA. Plant Systematics and Evolution 235: 121-134

(11) Ge S, Sang T, Lu B-R, Hong D-Y. 2001. Phylogeny of the genus Oryza as revealed by molecular approaches. In: Khush G S, Brar D S, Hardy B (eds) Rice Genetics IV. Proceedings of 4th International Rice Genetics Symposium. Phillipines: IRRI. pp. 89-105

(10) Ge S, Sang T, Lu B-R, Hong D-Y. 2001. Rapid and reliable identification of rice genomes by RFLP analysis of PCR-amplified Adh genes. Genome 44: 1136-1142

(9) Li A, Ge S. 2001. Genetic variation and clonal diversity of Psammochloa villosa detected by ISSR markers. Annals of Botany 87: 585-590

(8) Gao L Z, Ge S, Hong D Y. 2000. Allozyme variation and population genetic structure of commom wild rice, Oryza rufipogon Griff.in China. Theoretical and Applied Genetics  101: 494-502

(7) Gao L, Ge S, Hong D-Y. 2000. Low level of genetic diversity within population and high differentiation among populations of a wild rice, Oryza granulata from China. International Journal of Plant Sciences 161: 691-697

(6) Ge S, Sang T, Lu B R, Hong D Y. 1999. Phylogeny of rice genomes with emphasis on origins of allotetraploid species. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences USA 96: 14400-14405.

(5) Zhou S L, Hong D Y, Pan K Y. 1999. Pollination biology of Paeonia jishanensis T. Hong & W. Z. Zhao (Paeoniaceae), with special emphasis on pollen and stigma biology. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 130: 43-52.

(4) Ge S, Wang K Q, Hong D Y, Zhang W H, Zu Y G. 1999. Comparisons of genetic diversity in the endangered Adenophora lobophylla and its widespread congener, A. potaninii. Conservation Biology 13: 509-513

(3) Ge S, Oliveira G C X, Schaal B A, Gao L-Z, Hong D-Y. 1999. RAPD variation within and between natural populations of wild rice (Oryza rufipogon) from China and Brazil. Heredity 82: 638-644

(2) Ding K-Y, Ge S, Yu Z-H, Hong D-Y. 1998. Cytotype variation and cytogeography of Scilla sinensis (Louriro) Merrill (Hyacinthaceae) in China. Hereditas 129: 151-160

(1) Ge S, Hong D-Y, Wang H-Q, Liu Z-Y, Zhang C-M. 1998. Population genetic structure and conservation of an endangered conifer, Cathaya argyrophylla (Pinaceae). International Journal of Plant Sciences 159: 351-357

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