Susanne S. Renner

Lab members and projects, http://www.sysbot.biologie.uni-muenchen.de/botsyst/home.html

References in google scholar

We are working on the systematics, biogeography, and evolution of plants. A long-standing interest is the evolution of dioecy, heterodichogamy, and sex change. These interests led to projects on the evolution of plant sex chromosomes, focusing on Cucurbitaceae, and work on genome size evolution in Orobanchaceae and Araceae, using molecular cytogenetics and next generation sequencing. Biogeographic work has focused on Cucurbitaceae, Melastomataceae, Chloranthaceae, Araceae, and families in the order Laurales, namely Calycanthaceae, Atherospermataceae, Hernandiaceae, Lauraceae, Monimiaceae, and Siparunaceae *see online Flora of Ecuador. In much of this work, molecular clocks and their calibration with fossils play a large role.

Main email address (alternative mailing addresses see end of page): renner@lmu.de

Selected publications, sorted by topics and clades

 

MODERN TAXONOMY, BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION, ROLE OF SYSTEMATICS IN EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY

• Morrison, W.R., Lohr, J.L., Duchen, P., Wilches, R., Trujillo, D., Mair, M. and Renner, S.S. 2009. The impact of taxonomic change on conservation: Does it kill, can it save, or is it just irrelevant? Biological Conservation 142: 3201-3206.
• Losos, J. B., S. J. Arnold, G. Bejerano, E. D. Brodie III, D. Hibbett, H. E. Hoekstra, D. P. Mindell, A. Monteiro, C. Moritz, H. A. Orr, D. A. Petrov, S. S. Renner, R. E. Ricklefs, P. S. Soltis, and T. L. Turner. 2013. Evolutionary biology for the 21^st century. PLoS Biology 11(1): e1001466. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001466
• Penev, L., Kress, W. J., Knapp, S., Li, D-Z., and S. S. Renner. 2010. Fast, linked, and open – the future of taxonomic publishing for plants: launching the journal PhytoKeys 1: 1–14, doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.1.642
• DNA speaks English: Taken up by http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/pp-pds032212.php

MOLECULAR EVOLUTION

·       Piednoel, M., G. Carette-Vega, and S. S. Renner. 2013. Characterization of the LTR retrotransposon repertoire of a plant clade of six diploid and one tetraploid species (The Plant Journal, in revision).

• Piednoel, M., A. J. Aberer, G. M. Schneeweiss, J. Macas, P. Novak, H. Gundlach, E. M. Temsch, S. S. Renner. 2012. Next-generation sequencing reveals the impact of repetitive DNA in phylogenetically closely related genomes of Orobanchaceae. Molecular Biology and Evolution 29: 3601-3611 doi: 10.1093/molbev/mss168
• Renner, S. S., and S. Bellot. 2012. Horizontal gene transfer in eukaryotes: fungi-to-plant and plant-to-plant transfers of organellar DNA. Pp. 223-235 in R. Bock & V. Knoop, eds., Genomics  of Chloroplasts and Mitochondria. Springer, Heidelberg.
• Cusimano, N., L.-B- Zhang, and S. S. Renner. 2008. Reevaluation of the cox1 group I intron in Araceae and angiosperms indicates a history dominated by loss rather than horizontal transfer. Mol. Biol. Evol. 25(2):1­12.
• Won, H., and S. S. Renner. 2003. Horizontal gene transfer from flowering plants to Gnetum. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 100 (19): 10824-10829.
• Won, H., and S. S. Renner. 2005. The internal transcribed spacer of nuclear ribosomal DNA in the gymnosperm Gnetum. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 36(3): 581-597 (pdf).
• Won, H., and S. S. Renner. 2005. The chloroplast trnT-trnF region in the seed plant lineage Gnetales. Journal of Molecular Evolution 60(6): 425-436 (pdf).

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY & SEX CHROMOSOMES, more about pollination and mating system evolution:

• Ming, R., A. Bendahmane, and S. S. Renner. 2011. Sex chromosomes in land plants. Annual Review of Plant Biology 62: 485-514.
• Sousa, A., J. Fuchs, and S. S. Renner. 2012. Molecular cytogenetics (FISH, GISH) of Coccinia grandis, a c. 3 Ma-old species of Cucurbitaceae with the largest Y/autosome divergence in flowering plants. Cytogenetic and Genome Research, DOI: 10.1159/000345370.
• Oyama, R. K., M. V. Silber, and S. S. Renner. 2010. A specific insertion of a solo-LTR characterizes the Y chromosome of Bryonia dioica (Cucurbitaceae). BMC Research Notes 2010, 3: 166. (7 pages)
• Oyama, R. K., S. M. Volz, and S. S. Renner. 2009. A sex-linked SCAR marker in Bryonia dioica (Cucurbitaceae), a dioecious species with XY sex-determination and homomorphic sex chromosomes. J. Evol. Biol. 22(1): 214-224.

 BIOGEOGRAPHY // DIVERSIFICATION ANALYSES // MACRO-EVOLUTION

• Cusimano, N., and S. S. Renner. 2010. Slowdowns in diversification rates from real phylogenies may not be real. Systematic Biology 59(4): 458-464.
• Cusimano, N., T. Stadler, and S. S. Renner. 2012. A new method for handling missing species in diversification analysis applicable to randomly or non-randomly sampled phylogenies. Systematic Biology 61(5): 785-792. doi: 10.1093/sysbio/sys031.
• Ricklefs, R. E., and S. S. Renner. 2012. Global correlations in tropical tree species richness and abundance reject neutrality. Science 335: 464-467.
• Ricklefs, R. E., and S. S. Renner. 2012. Response to Comments on ''Global Correlations in Tropical Tree Species Richness and Abundance Reject Neutrality''. Science 336: 1639, DOI: 10.1126/science.1222685.

·       Heibl, C., and S. S. Renner. 2012. Distribution models and a dated phylogeny for Chilean Oxalis species reveal occupation of new habitats by different lineages, not rapid adaptive radiation. Systematic Biology 61(5): 823-834. doi: 10.1093/sysbio/sys034.

·       Renner, S. S. 2010. Biogeographic insights from a short-lived Paleocene island in the Ninetyeast Ridge. Journal of Biogeography 37(7): 1177-1178.

• Li, Y., S. Dressler, D. Zhang, and S. S. Renner. 2009. More Miocene dispersal between Africa and Asia - the case of Bridelia (Phyllanthaceae). Systematic Botany 34(3): 521-529.
• Luo, S., H.-J. Esser, D. Zhang, and S. S. Renner. 2011. Nuclear ITS sequences help disentangle Phyllanthus reticulatus (Phyllanthaceae), an Asian species not occurring in Africa, but introduced to Jamaica. Systematic Botany 36(1): 99-104.
• Renner, S. S. 2005. Relaxed molecular clocks for dating historical plant dispersal events. Trends in Plant Science 10(11): 550-558 (pdf).
• Renner, S. S. 2004. Tropical trans-Atlantic disjunctions, sea surface currents, and wind patterns. Int. J. Plant Sciences 165(4 Suppl.): S23-S33. http://blog.1800flowers.com/international/renner-dispersal-et/
• Givnish, T. J., and S. S. Renner. 2004. Tropical intercontinental disjunctions: Gondwana breakup, immigration from the boreotropics, and transoceanic dispersal. Int. J. Plant Sci. 165(4 Suppl.): S1-S6.
• Renner, S. S. 2005. Variation in diversity among Laurales, early Cretaceous to Present. Biol. Skr. 55: 441-458.
• Ricklefs, R. E., A. Schwarzbach, and S. S. Renner. 2006. Rate of lineage origin explains the diversity anomaly in the World's mangrove vegetation. Am. Nat. 168: 805-810. pdf
• Grimm, G., A. Stamatakis, S. S. Renner, and V. Hemleben. 2006. A nuclear ribosomal DNA phylogeny of Acer inferred with maximum likelihood, splits graphs, and motif analyses of 606 sequences. Evolutionary Bioinformatics Online 2: 279-294.
• Renner, S. S., G. W. Grimm, G. Schneeweiss, T. F. Stuessy, and R. E. Ricklefs. 2008. Rooting and dating maples (Acer) with an uncorrelated-rates molecular clock: Implications for North       American/Asian disjunctions. Systematic Biology 57(5): 795-808.
• Gottschling, M., S. S. Renner, K.J. S. Meier, H. Willems, and H. Keupp. 2008. Timing deep divergence events in calcareous dinoflagellates. J. Phycol. 44(2): 429-438.
• Zhang, L-B., M. P. Simmons, and S. S. Renner. 2007. A phylogeny of Anisophylleaceae based on six nuclear and plastid loci: Ancient disjunctions and recent dispersal between South America, Africa, and Asia. Mol. Phyl. Evol. 44(3): 1057-1067.
• Muellner, A. N., D. D. Vassiliades, and S. S. Renner. 2007. Placing Biebersteiniaceae, a herbaceous clade of Sapindales, in a temporal and geographic context. Plant Systematics and Evolution 266: 233-252.
• Muellner, A. N., T. D. Pennington, A. V. Koecke, S. S. Renner. 2010. Biogeography of Cedrela (Meliaceae, Sapindales) in Central and South America. American Journal of Botany 97(3): 511-518.

PHYLOGENY AND EVOLUTION *SORTED BY CLADE

HORNWORTS, sister to the vascular plants

·       Villarreal, J. C., and S. S. Renner. 2012. Hornwort pyrenoids, carbon-concentrating structures, evolved and were lost at least five times during the last 100 million years. Proceedings of the National Academy, USA 109(46): 18873-18878, 10.1073/pnas.1213498109 pdf with online supporting materials included.

GYMNOSPERMS

• Won, H., and S. S. Renner. 2003. Horizontal gene transfer from flowering plants to Gnetum. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 100 (19): 10824-10829.
• Won, H., and S. S. Renner. 2005. The internal transcribed spacer of nuclear ribosomal DNA in the gymnosperm Gnetum. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 36(3): 581-597 (pdf).
• Won, H., and S. S. Renner. 2005. The chloroplast trnT-trnF region in the seed plant lineage Gnetales. Journal of Molecular Evolution 60(6): 425-436 (pdf).
• Won, H., and S. S. Renner. 2006. Dating dispersal and radiation in the gymnosperm Gnetum (Gnetales) - clock calibration when outgroup relationships are uncertain. Syst. Biol. 55(4): 610-622. pdf
• Renner, S. S. 2009. Gymnosperms. Pp. 157-160 in S. B. Hedges and S. Kumar, eds., The Timetree of Life, Oxford University Press.
• Ickert-Bond, S. M., C. Rydin, and S. S. Renner. 2009. A fossil-calibrated relaxed clock for Ephedra indicates an Oligocene age for the divergence of Asian and New World clades, and    Miocene dispersal into South America. Journal of Systematics and Evolution 47(5): 444-456.
• Renner, S. S. 2011. Living fossil younger than thought. Science 334: 766-767. Invited commentary on N. S. Nagalingum et al., Science 334, 2011.
• Mao, K., Milne, R. I., Zhang, L., Peng, Y., Liu, J., Thomas, P., Mill, R. R. and S. S. Renner. 2012. The distribution of living Cupressaceae reflects the breakup of Pangea. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 109: 7793-7798. Taken up by http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120503120116.htm

ANGIOSPERMS GENERAL

• Qiu, Y.-L., O. Dombrovska, J. H. Lee, L.B. Li, B. A. Whitlock, F. Bernasconi-Quadroni, J. S. Rest, C. C. Davis, T. Borsch, K. W. Hilu, S. S. Renner, D. E. Soltis, P. S. Soltis, M. J. Zanis, J. J. Cannone, R. R. Gutell, M. Powell, V. Savolainen, L. W. Chatrou, M. W. Chase. 2005. Phylogenetic analyses of basal angiosperms based on nine plastid, mitochondrial, and nuclear genes. Int. J. Plant Science166 (5): 815-842 (pdf).
• Bininda-Emonds, O.R.P., Bogdanowicz, W., Borsch, T., Delsuc, F., Hassanin, A., Jondelius, U., Petersen, G., Renner, S.S., Savolainen, V., Seberg, O., Smets, E. and A. Vogler. 2009. Assembling the Tree of Life in Europe (AToLE). Nature Preceedings doi:10.1038/npre.2009.2891.

CHLORANTHACEAE

• Zhang, L.-B., and S. S. Renner. 2003. The deepest splits in Chloranthaceae as resolved by chloroplast sequences. International Journal of Plant Science 164(5 Suppl.): S383-S392.
• Tosaki, Y., S. S. Renner, and H. Takahashi. 2001. Pollination of Sarcandra glabra (Chloranthaceae) in natural populations in Japan. Journal of Plant Research 114: 423-427.

MONOCOTS

• Chacón, J., A. Sousa, M. Baeza, and S. S. Renner. 2012. Ribosomal DNA distribution and a genus-wide phylogeny reveal dynamic chromosomal evolution in Alstroemeria (Alstroemeriaceae). American Journal of Botany 99: 1501-1512.

• Chacón, J., M. Camargo de Assis, A. W. Meerow, and S. S. Renner. 2012. From East Gondwana to Central America: Historical biogeography of the Alstroemeriaceae. Journal of Biogeography 39(10): 1806-1818, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2012.02749.x
• Nauheimer, L., P. C. Boyce, and S. S. Renner. 2012. Giant taro and its relatives: A phylogeny of the large genus Alocasia (Araceae) sheds light on Miocene floristic exchange in the Malesian region. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 63: 43-51.
• Nauheimer, L., D. Metzler, and S. S. Renner. 2012. Global history of the ancient monocot family Araceae inferred with models accounting for past continental positions and previous ranges based on fossils. New Phytologist 195(4): 938-950. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04220.x
• Cusimano, N., A. Sousa, and S. S. Renner. 2012. Maximum likelihood inference implies a high, not a low, ancestral haploid chromosome number in the Araceae, with a critique of the bias introduced by “x”. Annals of Botany 109: 681-692.
• Cusimano, N., M. Barrett, W. L. A. Hetterscheid, and S. S. Renner. 2010. A phylogeny of the Areae (Araceae) implies that Typhonium, Sauromatum, and the Australian species of Typhonium are distinct clades. Taxon 59: 439-447.
• Renner, S. S., L.-B. Zhang, and J. Murata. 2004. A chloroplast phylogeny of Arisaema (Araceae) illustrates Tertiary floristic links between Asia, North America, and East Africa. Am. J. Bot. 91(6): 881-888 (pdf).
• Renner, S. S., L.-B. Zhang, and J. Murata. 2004. Fossil identifications used in molecular dating studies should be justified. Am. J. Bot. eLetter with image of holotype of Arisaema hesperica Knowlton. This discussion is continued in Gandolfo, M., K. C. Nixon, and W. L. Crepet. 2008. Selection of fossils for calibration of molecular dating models. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 95(1): 34-44. and S. S. Renner and J. Bogner. manuscript. The need for collaboration between paleobotanists and neobotanists when using fossils for calibration of molecular clocks.
• Renner, S. S. and L.-B. Zhang. 2004. Biogeography of the Pistia clade (Araceae) based on cp and mtDNA sequences and Bayesian divergence time inference. Syst. Biol. 53(3): 422-432.
• Kropf, M., and S. S. Renner. 2005. Pollination success in monochromic yellow populations of the rewardless orchid Dactylorhiza sambucina. Plant Syst. Evol. 254: 185-197 (pdf).
• Kropf, M., and S. S. Renner. 2008. Pollinator-mediated selfing in two deceptive orchids and a review of pollinium tracking studies addressing geitonogamy. Oecologia 155: 497-508.
• Wang, Y., D. Zhang, S. S. Renner, and Z. Chen. 2005. Self-pollination by sliding pollen in Caulokaempferia coenobialis (Zingiberaceae). Int. J. Plant Sciences 166(5): 753-759 (pdf).
• Wang, Y., D. Zhang, S. S. Renner, and Z. Chen. 2004. A new self-pollination mechanism. Nature 431: 39-40 (pdf).

LAURALES: PHYLOGENETICS, BIOGEOGRAPHY, and TAXONOMY

• Michalak, I., L-B. Zhang, and S. S. Renner. 2010. Trans-Atlantic, trans-Pacific, and trans-Indian Ocean dispersal events in the small Gondwanan Laurales family Hernandiaceae. Journal of Biogeography 37(7): 1214-1226.
• Renner, S. S., J. S. Strijk, D. Strasberg, and C. Thébaud. 2010. Biogeography of the Monimiaceae (Laurales): A role for East Gondwana and long distance dispersal, but not West Gondwana. Journal of Biogeography 37(7): 1227-1238.
• Renner, S. S. 2005. Variation in diversity among Laurales, early Cretaceous to Present. Biol. Skr. 55: 441-458.
• Zhou, S., S. S. Renner, and J. Wen. 2006. Molecular phylogeny and inter- and intracontinental biogeography of Calycanthaceae. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39: 1-15 (pdf).
• Renner, S. S., and A. Chanderbali. 2000. What is the relationship among Hernandiaceae, Lauraceae, and Monimiaceae, and why is this question so difficult to answer? Int. J. Plant Science 161(6 Suppl.): S109-119.
• Chanderbali, A. S., H. van der Werff, S. S. Renner. 2001. Phylogeny and historical biogeography of Lauraceae: evidence from the chloroplast and nuclear genomes. Ann. Missouri Bot. Garden 88(1): 104-134 (pdf).
• Renner, S. S. 1999. Circumscription and phylogeny of Laurales: evidence from molecular and morphological data. American Journal of Botany 86: 1301-1315.
• Renner, S. S., Murray, D., and D. Foreman. 2000. Timing transantarctic disjunctions in the Atherospermataceae (Laurales): evidence from coding and noncoding chloroplast sequences. Syst. Biol. 49(3): 579-591 (pdf).
• Renner, S. S. 1998. Phylogenetic affinities of Monimiaceae based on cpDNA gene and spacer sequences. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Systematics and Evolution 1: 61-77 (pdf).
• Renner, S. S. 2011. Laurales. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, Nature Publishing Group, DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0003695.pub2
• Renner, S. S., Schwarzbach, A. E., and L. Lohmann. 1997. Phylogenetic position and floral function of Siparuna (Siparunaceae: Laurales). Intern. J. Plant Science 158(6 suppl.): 89-98  
• Takeuchi, W., and S. S. Renner. 2002. A generic record for Faika (Monimiaceae) in Papua New Guinea. Flora Malesiana Bull. 13(1): 54-55. 
• Renner, S. S., and W. N. Takeuchi. 2009. A phylogeny and revised circumscription for Kairoa (Monimiaceae), with the description of a new species from Papua New Guinea. Harvard Papers in Botany 14(1): 71-81.
• Renner, S. S., and G. Hausner. 2000. New species of Siparuna (Siparunaceae) III. Three new species and one newly ranked entity from Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Novon 10: 134-143 (online at Botanicus).
• Renner, S. S., and G. Hausner. 1997. Siparuna (Siparunaceae) and Mollinedia (Monimiaceae). Flora of Ecuador 59: 1-125.
• Renner, S. S., and G. Hausner. 2005. New Species of Siparuna (Siparunaceae) IV. A new subcanopy species from white-sand areas in Brazil and Venezuela. Novon 15(1): 202-206 (online at Botanicus).
• Renner, S. S., and G. Hausner. 2005. Monograph of Siparunaceae. Flora Neotropica 95: 1-256. ISBN 0.89327.462.3.

RANUNCULALES

• Jabbour, F., and S. S. Renner. 2011. Consolida and Aconitella are an annual clade of Delphinium (Ranunculaceae) that diversified in the Mediterranean basin and the Irano-Turanian region. Taxon 60(4): 1029-1040.
• Jabbour, F. and S. S. Renner. 2011. Resurrection of the genus Staphisagria J. Hill, sister to all the other Delphinieae (Ranunculaceae). Phytokeys 7: 21-26. Taken up by http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/pp-elo120811.php
• Jabbour, F., and S. S. Renner. 2012. A phylogeny of the Delphinieae (Ranunculaceae) shows that Aconitum is nested within Delphinium and that Late Miocene transitions to long life cycles in the Himalayas and South West China coincide with bursts in diversification. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 62: 928-942.
• Jabbour, F., and S. S. Renner. 2012. Spurs in a spur: Perianth evolution in the Delphinieae (Ranunculaceae). International Journal of Plant Sciences 173(9): 1036-1054.

CARYOPHYLLALES

·       Schlumpberger, B. O., and S. S. Renner. 2012. The relative roles of polyploidy, pollinator switches, and plant architecture in the evolution of Echinopsis, one of the largest genera of Cactaceae. American Journal of Botany 99(8): 1335-1349.

BRASSICALES

• Carvalho, F., and S. S. Renner. 2012. A dated phylogeny of the papaya family (Caricaceae) reveals the crop’s closest relatives and the family’s biogeographic history. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 65(1): 46-53.
• Carvalho, F., and S. S. Renner. 2013. The phylogeny of the Cariaceae. Pp. 000-000 in Genetics and genomics of papaya, eds. R. Ming and P. Moore, Springer Verlag.

CUCURBITALES

• De Boer, H. J., Schaefer, H., Thulin, M., and S. S. Renner. 2012. Evolution and loss of long-fringed petals: A case study using a dated phylogeny of the snake gourds, Trichosanthes (Cucurbitaceae). BMC Evolutionary Biology BMC 12: 108. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-12-108.
• Renner, S. S., and A. Pandey. 2013. The Cucurbitaceae of India: Accepted names, synonyms, geographic distribution, and information on images and DNA sequences. Phytokeys 20: 53-118.

• Schaefer, H., and S. S. Renner. 2011. Cucurbitaceae. Pp. 112-174 in K. Kubitzki, ed., Families and Genera of Flowering Plants, Vol. 10. Springer Verlag, Berlin. (pdf available upon request)
• The new tribal classification is formalized in this paper:
• Schaefer, H., and S. S. Renner. 2011. Phylogenetic relationships in the order Cucurbitales and a new classification of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae). Taxon 60(1): 122-138.
• Holstein, N., and S. S. Renner. 2011. A dated phylogeny and collection records reveal repeated biome shifts in the African genus Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae). BMC Evolutionary Biology 11: 28.
• Holstein, N., and S. S. Renner. 2010. Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae) gains two new species from East Africa, three new synonyms, and one new combination. Kew Bulletin 65: 435-441.
• Holstein, N., and S. S. Renner. 2011. Coccinia intermedia — a new Cucurbitaceae species from West Africa. Phytokeys 7: 26-36.
• Schaefer, H., and S. S. Renner. 2010. A gift from the New World? The West African crop Cucumeropsis mannii and the American Posadaea sphaerocarpa (Cucurbitaceae) are the same species. Systematic Botany 35(3): 534-540.
• Filipowicz, N., and S. S. Renner. 2010. The worldwide holoparasitic Apodanthaceae confidently placed in the Cucurbitales by nuclear and mitochondrial gene trees. BMC Evolutionary Biology 10: 219 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/219

·       Bellot, S., and S. S. Renner. Pollination and mating systems of Apodanthaceae, and the evolution of reproductive-biological traits in parasitic angiosperms. American Journal of Botany (in press).

• Duchen, P., and S. S. Renner. 2010. The evolution of Cayaponia (Cucurbitaceae): Repeated shifts from bat to bee pollination and long-distance dispersal to Africa 2-5 million years ago. American Journal of Botany 97(7): 1129–1141.
• Sebastian, P., H. Schaefer, and S. S. Renner. 2010. Darwin's Galapagos gourd: Providing new insights 175 years after his visit. J. Biogeography 37: 975–980.
• Nee, M., H. Schaefer, and S. S. Renner. 2009. The relationship between Anisosperma and Fevillea (Cucurbitaceae), and a new species of Fevillea from Bolivia. Systematic Botany 34(4): 704-708.
• Schaefer, H., and S. S. Renner. 2009. A three-genome phylogeny of Momordica (Cucurbitaceae) suggests seven returns from dioecy to monoecy and recent long-distance dispersal to Asia. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54(2): 553-560.
• Schaefer, H., C. Heibl, and S. S. Renner. 2009. Gourds afloat: A dated phylogeny reveals an Asian origin of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae) and numerous oversea dispersal events.     Proc. Roy. Soc. B. 276: 843-851.
• Schaefer, H., and S. S. Renner. 2008. A phylogeny of the oil bee tribe Ctenoplectrini (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) based on mitochondrial and nuclear data: Evidence for Early Eocene divergence and repeated out-of-Africa dispersal. Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution 47: 799-811.
• Zhang, L-B., M. P. Simmons, and S. S. Renner. 2007. A phylogeny of Anisophylleaceae based on six nuclear and plastid loci: Ancient disjunctions and recent dispersal between South America, Africa, and Asia. Mol. Phyl. Evol. 44(3): 1057-1067.
• Zhang, L.-B., M. P. Simmons, A. Kocyan, and S. S. Renner. 2006. Phylogeny of the Cucurbitales based on DNA sequences of nine loci from three genomes: Implications for morphological and sexual system evolution. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39: 305-322 (pdf).
• Kocyan, A., L-B. Zhang, H. Schaefer, and S. S. Renner. 2007. A multi-locus chloroplast phylogeny for the Cucurbitaceae and its implications for character evolution and classification. Mol. Phyl. Evol. 44. 553-577.
• Sebastian, P. M., H. Schaefer, I. R. H. Telford, and S. S. Renner. 2010. Cucumber and melon have their wild progenitors in India, and the sister species of Cucumis melo is from Australia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107(32): 14269–14273.
• Telford, I. R. H., P. M. Sebastian, J. J. Bruhl, and S. S. Renner. 2011. Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) in Australia and eastern Malesia, including newly recognized species and the sister species to C. melo. Systematic Botany 36: 376-389.
• Telford, I. R. H., H. Schaefer, W. Greuter, and S. S. Renner. 2011. A new Australian species of Luffa (Cucurbitaceae) and typification of two Australian Cucumis names, all based on specimens collected by Ferdinand Mueller in 1856. PhytoKeys 4: 21-29. Taken up by http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110727141319.htm.
• Telford, I. R. H., Sebastian, P., P. J. de Lange, Bruhl, J. J., and S. S. Renner. 2012. Morphological and molecular data reveal three rather than one species of Sicyos (Cucurbitaceae) in Australia, New Zealand and the Islands of the South West Pacific. Australian Systematic Botany 25(3): 188-201.
• Sebastian, P., H. Schaefer, R. Lira, I. R. H. Telford, and S. S. Renner. 2012. Radiation following long-distance dispersal: The contributions of time, opportunity, and diaspore morphology in Sicyos (Cucurbitaceae). Journal of Biogeography 39: 1427–1438, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2012.02695.x
• Renner, S. S., H. Schaefer, and A. Kocyan. 2007. Phylogenetics of Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae): Cucumber (C. sativus) belongs in an Asian/Australian clade far from melon (C. melo). BMC Evolutionary Biology 2007, 7:58.
• Renner, S. S., and H. Schaefer. 2008. Phylogenetics of Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) as understood in 2008. Pitrat M. (ed): Cucurbitaceae 2008, Proceedings of the IXth EUCARPIA meeting on genetics and breeding of Cucurbitaceae, Avignon (France), May 21-24th, 2008, pp. 53-58. Available at https://w3.avignon.inra.fr/dspace/handle/2174/236.
• Schaefer, H., I. R. H. Telford, and S. S. Renner. 2008. Austrobryonia (Cucurbitaceae), a new Australian endemic genus, is the closest living relative to the Eurasian and Mediterranean Bryonia and Ecballium. Systematic Botany 33:125-132.
• Schaefer, H., Kocyan, A., and S. S. Renner. 2008. Linnaeosicyos (Cucurbitaceae), a new genus for Trichosanthes amara, the Caribbean sister species of all Sicyeae. Systematic Botany 33(2): 349-355.
• Renner S.S., Scarborough J., Schaefer H., Paris H.S., and J. Janick. 2008. Dioscorides's bruonia melaina is Bryonia alba, not Tamus communis, and an illustration labeled bruonia melaina in the Codex Vindobonensis is Humulus lupulus not Bryonia dioica. In: Cucurbitaceae 2008. Pitrat M. (ed). Proceedings of the IXth EUCARPIA meeting on genetics and breeding of Cucurbitaceae, Avignon (France), May 21-24th, 2008, pp. 273-280. Available at https://w3.avignon.inra.fr/dspace/handle/2174/218
• Volz, S. M., and S. S. Renner. 2009. Phylogeography of the ancient Eurasian medicinal plant genus Bryonia (Cucurbitaceae) inferred from nuclear and chloroplast sequences. Taxon 58(2): 550-560.

ASCLEPIADACEAE

• Wanntorp, L., A. Kocyan, R. van Donkelaar, and S. S. Renner. 2006. Towards a monophyletic Hoya (Marsdenieae, Apocynaceae): inferences from the chloroplast trnL region and the rbcL-atpB spacer. Syst. Bot. 31(3): 586-596.
• Wanntorp, L., A. Kocyan, and S. S. Renner. 2006. Wax plants disentangled: A phylogeny of Hoya (Asclepioideae, Apocynaceae) inferred from nuclear and chloroplast sequences. Mol. Phyl. Evol. 39(3): 722-733.

MELASTOMATACEAE AND RELATED MYRTALES

• Renner, S. S. Melastomataceae. In Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Bolivia, ed. P. M. Jorgensen, The Missouri Botanical Garden. Available upon request.
• Renner, S. S., and R. Goldenberg. 2011. A new name and a new synonym in Miconia (Melastomataceae). Phytokeys 3: 35-37.
• Renner, S. S. 2007. Melastomataceae of Papua. Pp. 399-403 in Marshall, A. J., and Beehler, B. M. (eds.), The Ecology of Papua. Singapore: Periplus Editions.
• Chen, C., and Renner, S. S. 2007. Melastomataceae. Pp. 360-399 in Z. Y. Wu and P. H. Raven (eds.), Flora of China 13, Science Press, Beijing & Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis. 21 genera, 114 species, 72 endemic in China
• Renner, S. S. 2006. Crypteroniaceae. Pp. 123-126 In K. Kubitzki, ed., The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Springer Vlg., Heidelberg.
• Renner, S. S. 2004. Multiple Miocene Melastomataceae dispersal between Madagascar, Africa, and India. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 359: 1485­1494 (pdf).
• Renner, S. S. 2004. Bayesian analysis of combined data partitions, using multiple calibrations, supports recent arrival of Melastomataceae in Africa and Madagascar. Am. J. Bot. 91(9): 1427-1435.
• Fritsch, P. W., F. Almeda, S. S. Renner, A. B. Martins, and B. Cruz. 2004. Phylogeny and circumscription of the near-endemic Brazilian tribe Microlicieae (Melastomataceae). Am. J. Bot. 91(7): 1105-1114.
• Renner, S. S., and S. G. Beck. 2003. A new Miconia from Bolivia (Melastomatacaeae), with remarks on angular-branched species in the Andes. Novon 13(1): 110-112 (online at Botanicus).
• Wurdack, J., and S. S. Renner. 2002. Melastomataceae. In S. A. Mori, G. Cremers, C. A. Gracie, J.-J. de Granville, S. V. Heald, M. Hoff, and J. D. Mitchell, eds., Guide to the vascular plants of central French Guiana. Part 2. Dicotyledons. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 76(2): 437-465.
• Renner, S. S., G. Clausing, and K. Meyer. 2001. Historical biogeography of Melastomataceae: The roles of Tertiary migration and long distance dispersal. Am. J. Bot. 88(7): 1290-1300.
• Renner, S. S., and K. Meyer. 2001. Melastomeae come full circle: biogeographic reconstruction and molecular clock dating. Evolution 55(7): 1315-1324.
• Clausing, G., and S. S. Renner. 2001. Molecular phylogenetics of Melastomataceae and Memecylaceae: implications for character evolution. Am. J. Bot. 88(3): 486-498.
• Renner, S. S., G. Clausing, N. Cellinese, and K. Meyer 2001. Melastomataceae. Pp. 412-496 in K. Larsen and I. Nielsen, eds., Flora of Thailand 7,3. The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Dept., Bangkok.
• Clausing, G., Meyer, K., and S. S. Renner. 2000. Correlations among fruit traits and evolution of different fruits within Melastomataceae. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 133(3): 303-326.
• Renner, S. S. 1990. A revision of Rhynchanthera (Melastomataceae). Nordic Journal of Botany 9: 601-630.
• Renner, S. S. 1993. Phylogeny and classification of the Melastomataceae and Memecylaceae. Nordic Journal of Botany 13: 519-540.
• Renner, S. S. 1994. Revisions of Pterogastra and Schwackaea (Melastomataceae: Melastomeae). Nordic Journal of Botany 14: 65-71.
• Renner, S. S. 1994. A revision of Pterolepis (Melastomataceae: Melastomeae). Nordic Journal of Botany 14: 73-104.
• Renner, S. S. 1997. Melastomataceae. In The European Garden Flora, vol. V: 323-335. Cambridge University Press.
• Renner, S. S. 1987. Sandemania hoehnei (Tibouchineae: Melastomataceae): taxonomy, distribution, and biology. Brittonia 39: 441-446 (pdf).

SOLANALES

• Filipowicz, N., and S. S. Renner. 2012. Brunfelsia (Solanaceae): A genus evenly divided between South America and radiations on Cuba and other Antillean Islands. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 64(1): 1-11, DOI:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.02.026.
• Filipowicz, N., M. H. Nee, and S. S. Renner. 2012. Description and molecular diagnosis of a new species of Brunfelsia (Solanaceae) from the Bolivian and Argentinean Andes. Phytokeys 10: 83–94, doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.10.2558. Taken up by http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/pp-pds032212.php

 

SEXUAL SYSTEMS AND POLLINATION                                     

HISTORY, COMMENTARY & BOOK REVIEWS

      Renner, S. S. 1993. A history of botanical exploration in Amazonian Ecuador (1738-1988). Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 82: 1-39.

      400 words on the phylocode and phylogenetic systems of naming clades. Invited comment for the Smithsonian's March 2001 symposium on Linnaean Taxonomy in the 21st Century.

      Renner, S. S. 2003. C. Herrera and O. Pellmyr, eds., 2002. Plant-Animal Interactions ­ an Evolutionary Approach. Am. J. Bot. 90(2): 330-332 (pdf).

      Renner, S. S. 2003. I. C. W. Hardy, ed., Sex Ratios - Concepts and Research Methods. Plant Science Bulletin 48(1): 18-19.

      Renner, S. S. 2004. J. V. Crisci, L. Katinas, and P. Posadas, 2003. Historical Biogeography - An Introduction. Plant Science Bulletin 50(4): 127.

      Renner, S. S. 2006. Review of Biogeography, Third Edition by Mark V. Lomolino, Brett R. Riddle, and James H. Brown. Syst. Biol. 55(4): 696-698.

      Renner, S. S. 2007. Placing plant mating in a broad ecological context. Review of Lawrence D. Harder and Spencer C. H. Barrett, Editors, Ecology and Evolution of Flowers.

      Trends in Ecology and Evolution 22(10): 512-513.

      Renner, S. S. 2010. Review of L. R. Parenti and M. C. Ebach, Comparative Biogeography: Discovering and Classifying Biogeographical Patterns of a Dynamic Earth.

      Quarterly Review of Biology 85(2): 224.

      Renner, S. S. 2011. Living fossil younger than thought. Science 334: 766-767. Invited commentary on N. S. Nagalingum et al., Science 334, 2011.

 

·        

Lab members and projects

Ph.D. students since 1999

• Gudrun Kadereit (née Clausing): Die Systematik der Dissochaeteae und ihre Stellung innerhalb der Melastomataceae. Defended 1999 at the University of Mainz, Germany.
• Karsten Meyer: Phylogenie und Systematik der Gattung Melastoma unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des M. malabathricum Komplexes. Defended 1999 at the University of Mainz.
• André S. Chanderbali (co-advised with Henk van der Werff, The Missouri Botanical Garden): Contributions to the systematics of Lauraceae: 1. Phylogeny and historic biogeography of Lauraceae: evidence from the chloroplast and nuclear genomes [Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 88: 104-134. 2001]. 2. A monograph of Endlicheria (Flora Neotropica 2005). Defended at the Univ. of Missouri-St. Louis, 2001. André is now a postdoc in the lab of Doug and Pam Soltis at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
• Hyosig Won: Phylogeny, biogeography, and systematics of Gnetum. Defended at the Univ. of Missouri-St. Louis, 2004. Hyosig is now an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Science, Daegu University
• Stefanie Volz, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Jan. 2004-Sep 2007. The evolution of combined versus separate sexes in Bryonia and Ecballium (Cucurbitaceae), using phylogenetic and phylogeographic approaches. Stefanie has accepted a position as a teacher at a gymnasium (high school) in Munich.
• Natalie Cusimano, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, May 2005-Sep 2009: The evolution of the Arum clade: Intron evolution, biogeography, and diversification.
• Norbert Holstein, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Sep 2007-March 2012: Evolution, biogeography, and monographic treatment of Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae).
• Patrizia Sebastian, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, May 2008-Dec. 2011: The evolution and biogeography of Cucumis and Sicyos (Cucurbitaceae). Since January 2012, Patrizia works for a pharmaceutical company in Munich.
• Li Yongquan, Oct 2007-25 April 2008. Yongquan received a fellowship from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his Ph.D. thesis was advised jointly by Prof. Zhang Dianxiang from the South China Botanical Garden and Susanne Renner. Dr. Li now has a position in China, working in Camellia breeding.
• Lars Nauheimer, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, March 2009-March 2012: Biogeography of the Araceae family and evolution of the Asian genus Alocasia. Since April 2012, Lars is a postdoctoral fellow with Alexandra Muellner at the University of Leipzig.
• Juliana Chacón, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Sep. 2009- June 2013: The evolution of Alstroemeriaceae and their sister group, Colchicaceae
• Fernanda Carvalho, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, April 2010- : Evolution, biogeography, and a monograph of the Cariaceae
• Aretuza Sousa, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Sep. 2010- : Inferring karyotype evolution in Araceae and Cucurbitaceae, focusing on polyploidy and sex chromosomes
• Sidonie Bellot, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Nov. 2010- : The evolution of the endoparasite family Apodanthaceae: Ecology, phylogenetics, and next-generation sequencing
• Uwe Geppert, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Jan. 2013- : Topic to be decided

Past and present postdoctoral associates

• Nov 2001-31 May 2002, Aruna Weerasooriya, 2010: Research Scientist, The University of Mississippi
• Jun 2002-31 May 2003, Libing Zhang, 2010: Assistant Curator, Missouri Botanical Garden 
• Mar 2004-Jan 2005, Livia Wanntorp, 2010: Researcher, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Department of Phanerogamic Botany
• Jun 2003-31 May 2007, Alexander Kocyan, 2010: Researcher at the Biological Institute of the University of Berlin-Potsdam
• Sep 2004-30 Apr 2008, Hanno Schaefer. 2010-April 2012: Postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Charles Davis, OEB, Harvard; 1 July 2012: Associate Professor, Technical University Munich
• Nov 2004-1 Mar 2010, Boris O. Schlumpberger. 2010: Curator at the Herrenhäuser Gardens, Hannover
• Oct 2006-Aug 2010, Ryan Oyama. 2010: Researcher with Pioneer-Dupont, Kauai, Hawaii
• May 2009-May 2010, Shixiao Luo. 2010: Researcher, South China Botanical Garden, Guangzhou
• Sep 2009-present, Natalie Cusimano. Dr. Cusimano obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Munich, and is currently working on karyotype evolution in the Araceae
• May 2009- June 2011, Natalia Filipowicz. Dr. Filipowicz is an Assistant Professor at the Medical University of Gdansk, Poland. In the Renner lab, she was working on the economically important groups Brunfelsia (Solanaceae) and Luffa (Cucurbitaceae)
• Jan 2010- Sep2012, Florian Jabbour. Dr. Jabbour received his Ph.D. at the University of Paris, where he was working on flower evolution. In Munich, he was working on the biogeography and flower evolution in the Delphinieae (Ranunculaceae). Florian is now an assistant professor at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.
• Mar 2010- Mar 2011, Ewa Siedlecka from Warsaw University of Life Sciences. Dr. Siedlecka works on the expression of Gy/gy candidate genes for sex determination

• Jan 2011- present, Mathieu Piednoel. Dr. Piednoel received his Ph.D. at the University of Paris, where he worked on transposons in deep-sea vent organisms. In Munich, he is carrying out a comparative analysis of repetitive DNA in Orobanchaceae of different life histories and ploidy levels, using nine 454-sequenced genomes.
• Mar – Jul 2011, Jelena Aleksic, Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, Laboratory for Plant Molecular Biology, Belgrade, Serbia. Jelena obtained her Ph.D. in Vienna (“Genetic structure of natural populations of Serbian spruce”), and in the Renner lab she was working on the phylogeny and biogeography of the genus Picea.
• Oct. 2011 –present, Juan Carlos Villarreal. Dr. Villarreal received his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut in Storrs, where he worked with Bernard Goffinet on hornworts. In Munich, he is continuing to focus on hornwort evolution and biogeography
• April 2012 –present, Stefan Abrahamzcyk, Dr. Abrahamzcyk received his Ph.D. from the University of Zurich in 2011, working with Michael Kessler. In Munich, he is working on the evolution of hummingbird/plant interactions
• January –April 2013, Lingyun Chen, Ph.D., Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, P.R. China

 

Education & Position

1980 M. Sc. in Biology, University of Hamburg
1984 Dr. rer. nat., University of Hamburg
1992 Habilitation (Dr. habil.) in Botanical systematics

1987-92 Associate Professor, Botanical Institute, University of Aarhus
1993-96 Full Professor, Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Mainz
1996-06 Professor, Department of Biology, University of Missouri-St. Louis

1996-   Associate Faculty, The Missouri Botanical Garden
2003-    Chair, Systematic Botany, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich;
              Director of the Nymphenburg Botanical Garden;
              Director of the Botanische Staatssammlung (M) and the University Herbarium (MSB)

2012- Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, University of Missouri-St. Louis

MAILING ADDRESSES

Susanne S. Renner
Botanische Staatsanstalten
Menzinger Str. 67
80638 Munich, Germany

 

My professional address in the US is
Department of Biology
University of Missouri-St. Louis
8001 Natural Bridge Road
St. Louis, MO 63121-4499

Last up-dated: 12 March 2013