Universidad de Chile

Graduate Student, Facultad de Ciencias

Other Affiliations: Instituto de Filosofía y Ciencias de la Complejidad, Santiago, Chile, Departamento de Ecología y Medio Ambiente

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The mistletoe, Tristerix verticillatus - Effect of multitrophic interactions on the population divergence of the mistletoe

The role of multitrophic interactions in the evolution of barriers to gene flow is part of my interests. I have focused on the interaction between the herbivores, pollinators and fruit dispersers of Tristerix verticillatus (Loranthaceae), a fairly generalist hemiparasitic mistletoe occurring on different host-plant species distributed sympatrically in central Chile, particularly on the way in which these interactions may be influenced by the chemistry of the hemiparasite, which in turn may be modified by its host-plants. Preliminary work has shown that the volatile chemistry and insect visitors differ between mistletoes on different host-plants. I am now studying phenotypic features of the mistletoe potentially relevant to its interaction with insects, and the consequences of such interactions on gene flow between hemiparasites on different hosts to get an insight on whether reproductive isolation is occurring in sympatry.

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