Dr. Christian Bräuchler

Phone: +49-89-17861-199
Fax: +49-89-172638
Email:


Research interests

Current projects

Digitisation of types and other herbarium specimens

Publications

Research interests
  • Lamiaceae, especially subfamily Nepetoideae: Phylogeny, biogeography and taxonomy
     
  • Phylogenetic concepts vs. taxonomic concepts
     
  • Botanical collectors and their herbaria

    • The current research covers a broad range of topics in various groups of the plant kingdom. Field work, traditional herbarium techniques and anatomical studies go hand in hand with various molecular techniques (e.g. Sequence analysis, AFLPs and Microsatellites). Another important factor is the increasing use of digital resources in botanical teaching and taxonomic research. To faciliate identification, I am trying to gather images of all genera of Menthinae, including both living plants and type specimens and make them available here.

    Current projects

    Most projects I am involved in deal with Lamiales, especially Lamiaceae:

    • Phylogenetics
       
      • Phylogenetic backbone of tribe Mentheae
      • Origin and evolution of New World Menthinae
      • Phylogenetics of Thymus
      • Phylogeny and biogeography of Teucrium (Diploma thesis by Stefan Kattari)
      • Speciation of mediterranean Clinopodium (with Tuncay Dirmenci, Turkey)
      • Phylogenetics of Lachemilla (with Katya Romoleroux, Ecuador)
         
    • Taxonomy
       
      • Revision of "Micromeria" in Madagascar (with Peter Phillipson, Paris/St.Louis)
      • Checklist of published names for selected genera of Menthinae and revision of the respective groups for the World Checklist of Seed Plants
      • Recircumscription of genera in Menthinae (e.g. Satureja, Thymus, Thymbra)

    Digitisation of types and other herbarium specimens

    Additionally I am working, together with Hans-Joachim Esser (curator for phanerogams), as project manager for Digitisation of types at the Botanische Staatssammlung München. These activities currently include material of the Munich herbaria (M and MSB) and botanical collections of several other German institutions (FR, HEID, HOH, REG, STU, TUB); the project is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon foundation (in scheme of API and LAPI).

    Workflow and details of the digitisation project coming soon.

    Publications
    • Bräuchler, C., Meimberg, H. & Heubl, G. (2004). Molecular phylogeny of the genera Digitalis L. and Isoplexis (Lindley) Loudon (Veronicaceae) based on ITS- and trnL-F sequences. Plant Syst. Evol. 248: 111-128.
       
    • Bräuchler, C., Meimberg, H., Abele, T. & Heubl, G. (2005). Polyphyly of the genus Micromeria (Lamiaceae) - evidence from cpDNA sequence data. Taxon 54 (3): 639-650.
       
    • Bräuchler, C. & Ngoc, L.H. (2005). Aspidistra renatae (Ruscaceae) - a new species from Central Vietnam. Blumea 50: 527-529.
       
    • Bräuchler, C., Meimberg, H. & Heubl, G. (2006). New names in Old World Clinopodium L. - the transfer of the species of Micromeria sect. Pseudomelissa to Clinopodium. Taxon 55(4): 977-981.
       
    • Meimberg, H., Abele, T., Bräuchler, C., McKay, J.K., Pérez de Paz, P.L. & Heubl, G. (2006). Molecular evidence for adaptive radiation of Micromeria Benth. (Lamiaceae) on the Canary Islands as inferred from chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequences and ISSR fingerprint data. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 41: 566-578.
       
    • Martín-Bravo, S., Meimberg, H., Luceño, M., Märkl, W., Valcárcel, V., Bräuchler, C., Vargas, P. & Heubl, G. (2007). Molecular systematics and biogeography of Resedaceae based on ITS and trnL-F sequences. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 44(3): 1105-1120.
       
    • Bräuchler, C. & Cikovac, P. (2007). Iris orjenii (Iridaceae) - a new species from the littoral Dinaric Alps. Willdenowia 37: 221-228.
       
    • Herl, V., Albach, D., Bräuchler, C., Heubl, G., Kreis, W. & Müller-Uri, F. (2008). Using progesterone 5ß-reductase, a gene encoding a key enzyme in the cardenolide biosynthesis, to infer the phylogeny of the genus Digitalis. Plant Syst. Evol. 271: 65-78.
       
    • Bräuchler, C., Doroszenko, A., Esser, H.-J. & Heubl, G. (2008). Killickia (Lamiaceae) - a new genus from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 157: 575-586.
       
    • Gehrke, B., Bräuchler, C., Romoleroux, K., Lundberg, M., Heubl, G. & Eriksson, T. (2008). Molecular phylogenetics of Alchemilla, Aphanes and Lachemilla (Rosaceae) inferred from plastid and nuclear intron and spacer DNA sequences, with comments on generic classification. Mol. Phyl. Evol. 47: 1030-1044.
       
    • Salmaki, Y., Jamzad, Z., Zarre, S. & Bräuchler, C. (2008). Pollen morphology of Stachys (Lamiaceae) in Iran and its systematic implication. Flora 203: 617-626.
       
    • Bräuchler, C., Ryding, O. & Heubl, G. (2008). The genus Micromeria (Lamiaceae), a synoptical update. Willdenowia 38: 363-410.
       
    • Salmaki, Y., Zarre, S., Jamzad, Z. & Bräuchler, C. (2009). Trichome micromorphology of Iranian Stachys (Lamiaceae) with emphasis on its systematic implication. Flora (in press).
       
    • Bräuchler, C., Meimberg, H. & Heubl, G. (2010). Molecular phylogeny of Menthinae (Lamiaceae, Nepetoideae, Mentheae) - Taxonomy, biogeography and conflicts. Mol. Phylogen. Evol. 55 (2): 501-523.
       
    • Turini, F.G., Bräuchler, C. & Heubl, G. (2010): Phylogenetic relationships and evolution of morphological characters in Ononis L. (Fabaceae). Taxon 59: 1077-1090.

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