Professor Christian Lexer

In memoriam

Research

Understanding the processes that accompany or facilitate the origin of phenotypic novelty in nature has always been of great interest to biology, but the molecular and computational tools required to address these long-standing questions have become available only recently. The advent of genomic and post-genomic science holds great promise for students of organismal evolution. We focus our research on plants, because plant diversity provides the foundation for life on Earth and plants display a multitude of fascinating adaptations, reproductive strategies, and biotic interactions. Plants are also highly amenable to evolutionary genetics research, e.g. they can easily be crossed and their sessile nature facilitates the estimation of fitness effects (the ‘adaptive value’) of individual traits, chromosomal segments, and even genes and their regulatory networks in the wild. A particularly exciting aspect of current plant evolutionary genomics & systematics is the ease with which cutting-edge DNA sequencing technologies and high-performance computing can help answer key questions in ecology & evolution, such as the drivers of speciation and entire species radiations. Read more...

Curriculum vitae

  • 2016-2019 Full Professor of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Austria
  • 2008-2016 Associate Professor of Evolutionary Biology, Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  • 2006-2013 Subject Editor, Heredity (Nature Publishing)
  • 2006- Subject Editor, Molecular Ecology (Blackwell Science)
  • 2004-2008 Decision Editor, Annals of Botany (Oxford University Press)
  • 2003-2008 Appointment as Population Geneticist at the Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, Surrey, U.K. Permanent academic member of staff
  • 2001-2005 Subject editor, Molecular Ecology Notes, the sister journal of Molecular Ecology (Blackwell Science)
  • 2000-2003 Erwin-Schrödinger postdoctoral fellow of the Austrian Science Foundation (FWF) in the lab of Prof. Loren H. Rieseberg, Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, U.S.A.
  • 1999 Doctoral degree at the University of Applied Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
  • 1996 Master degree at the University of Salzburg, Austria

Publications

Marylaure De La Harpe, Margot Paris, Jaqueline Hess, Michael HJ Barfuss, [...] Christian Lexer (2020) Genomic footprints of repeated evolution of CAM photosynthesis in a Neotropical species radiation. Plant Cell Environ. 1–15. doi.org/10.1111/pce.13847

Li-Yu Chen, Robert VanBuren, Margot Paris, [...] Jeffrey L. Bennetzen, Christian Lexer & Ray Ming (2019) The bracteatus pineapple genome and domestication of clonally propagated crops. Nature Genetics doi.org/10.1038/s41588-019-0506-8

Melinda Pickup, Yaniv Brandvain, Christelle Fraïsse, Sarah Yakimowski, Nicholas H. Barton, Tanmay Dixit, Christian Lexer, Eva Cereghetti, and David L. Field (2019) Mating system variation in hybrid zones: facilitation, barriers and asymmetries to gene flow. New Phytologist 224:1035-1047.

Muhammad Ahmad, Desanka Lazic, Karin Hansel‐Hohl, Christian Lexer, and Eva Maria (2019) Development of novel microsatellite markers for Alkanna tinctoria by comparative transcriptomics. Appl Plant Sci. 7(10):e11296.

Bresadola L, Link V, Buerkle CA, Lexer C & Wegmann D (2019) Estimating and accounting for genotyping errors in RAD-seq experiments.  bioRxiv (preprint) doi.org/10.1101/587428.

de La Harpe M, Paris M, Hess J, Barfuss MHJ, Serrano-Serrano ML, Ghatak A, Chaturvedi P, Weckwerth W, Till W, Nicolas Salamin, Ching Man Wai, Ray Ming & Lexer C (2019) Genomic footprints of repeated evolution of CAM photosynthesis in tillandsioid bromeliads. bioRxiv (preprint) doi.org/10.1101/495812.

Loiseau O, Olivares I, Paris M, de la Harpe M, [...], Lexer C, Kessler M & Salamin N (2019) Targeted capture of hundreds of nuclear genes unravels phylogenetic relationships of the diverse Neotropical palm tribe Geonomateae. Frontiers in Plant Science doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00864.

Bresadola L, Caseys C, Stefano Castiglione, C. Alex Buerkle, Daniel Wegmann, Lexer C (2019) Admixture mapping in interspecific Populus hybrids identifies classes of genomic architectures for phytochemical, morphological and growth traits. New Phytologist doi:10.1111/nph.15930.

de La Harpe M, Hess J, Loiseau O, Salamin N, Lexer C & Paris M (2018) A dedicated target capture approach reveals variable genetic markers across micro- and macro-evolutionary time scales in palms. Molecular Ecology Resources doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.12945.

Suarez-Gonzalez A, Hefer CA, Lexer C, Cronk QCB & Douglas CJ (2018) Scale and direction of adaptive introgression between black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) and balsam poplar (P. balsamifera). Molecular Ecology https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.14561.

Suarez-Gonzalez A, Lexer C & Cronk QCB (2018) Adaptive introgression: a plant perspective. Biology Letters 14:20170688.

Suarez-Gonzalez A, Hefer CA, Lexer C, Douglas CJ & Cronk QCB (2018) Introgression from Populus balsamifera underlies adaptively significant variation and range boundaries in P. trichocarpa. New Phytologist 217:416-427.

Scopece G, Juillet N, Lexer C & Cozzolino S (2017) Fluctuating selection across years and phenotypic variation in food-deceptive orchids. PeerJ 5:e3704.

de La Harpe M, Paris M, Karger DN, Rolland J, Kessler M, Salamin N & Lexer C (2017) Molecular ecology studies of species radiations: current research gaps, opportunities, and challenge. Molecular Ecology 26:2608-2622.

Holliday JA, Aitken SN, Cooke JEK, Fady B, González-Martínez SC, Heuertz M, Jaramillo-Correa J-P, Lexer C, Staton M, Whetten RW & Plomion C (2017) Advances in ecological genomics in forest trees and applications to genetic resources conservation and breeding. Molecular Ecology 26:706–717.

Christe C, Stölting KN, Paris M, Fraisse C, Bierne N & Lexer C (2017). Adaptive evolution and segregating load contribute to the genomic landscape of divergence in two tree species connected by episodic gene flow. Molecular Ecology 26:59–76.

David Macaya-Sanz, Myriam Heuertz, Dorothea Lindtke, Giovanni G. Vendramin, Christian Lexer & Santiago C. González-Martínez (2016) Causes and consequences of large clonal assemblies in a poplar hybrid zone. Molecular Ecology 25: 5330–5344.

Sedlacek J, Cortes J, Wheeler J, Bossdorf O, Guenter Hoch G, Klapste J, Lexer C, Rixen C, Wipf S, Karrenberg S & vanKleunen M (2016). Evolutionary potential in the Alpine: trait heritabilities and performance variation of the dwarf willow Salix herbacea from different elevations and microhabitats. Ecology and Evolution 6: 2940-3952. 

Christe C, Stölting KN, Bresadola L, Fussi B, Heinze B, Wegmann D & Lexer C (2016). Selection against recombinant hybrids maintains reproductive isolation in hybridizing Populus species despite F1 fertility and recurrent gene flow. Molecular Ecology  25: 2482-2498.

Suarez-Gonzalez A, Hefer CA, Christe C, Corea O, Lexer C, Cronk QCB & Douglas CJ (2016). Genomic and functional approaches reveal a case of adaptive introgression from Populus balsamifera (balsam poplar) in P. trichocarpa (black cottonwood). Molecular Ecology 25: 2427-2442. 

Lexer C, Marthaler F, Humbert S, Barbará T, de la Harpe M, Bossolini E, Paris M, Martinelli G & Versieux LM (2016). Gene flow and diversification in a species complex of Alcantarea inselberg bromeliads. Bot J. Linnean Society 181:  505-520.

Wüest RO, Litsios G, Forest F, Lexer C, Linder P, Salamin N, Zimmermann NE & Pearman PB (2015). Resprouter fraction in Cape Restionaceae assemblages varies with climate and soil type. Functional Ecology 30: 1583–1592.

Caseys C, Stölting KN, Barbará T, González-Martínez SC & Lexer C (2015). Patterns of genetic diversity and differentiation in resistance gene clusters of two hybridizing European Populus species. Tree Genetics & Genomes 11: 81.

Palma-Silva C, Cozzolino S, Paggi GM, Lexer C & Wendt T (2015). Mating system variation and assortative mating of sympatric bromeliads (Pitcairnia spp.) endemic to neotropical inselbergs. American Journal Botany 102:758-764.

Caseys C, Stritt C, Glauser G, Blanchard T & Lexer C (2015). Effects of hybridization and evolutionary constraints on secondary metabolites: the genetic architecture of phenylpropanoids in European Populus species. PLoS ONE 10(5): e0128200.

Sedlacek J, Wheeler JA, Cortés AJ, Bossdorf O, Hoch G, Lexer C, Wipf S, Karrenberg S, van Kleunen M & Rixen C (2015). The response of the alpine dwarf shrub Salix herbacea to altered snowmelt timing: lessons from a multi-Site transplant experiment. PLoS ONE 10(4): e0122395.

Stölting KN, Paris M, Meier C, Heinze B, Castiglione S, Bartha D & Lexer C (2015). Genome-wide patterns of differentiation and spatially varying selection between postglacial recolonization lineages of Populus alba (Salicaceae), a widespread forest tree. New Phytologist 207: 723-734.

Matos G, Palma-Silva C, Bodnese-Zanettini MH, Lexer C & Bered F (2015). Limited pollen flow and high selfing rates towards geographic range limit in an Atlantic forest bromeliad. Flora - Morphology Distribution Functional Ecology of Plants 211: 1-10.

Lexer C, Wüest RO, Mangili S, Heuertz M, Stölting KN, Pearman PB, Forest F, Salamin N, Zimmermann NE & Bossolini E (2014). Genomics of the divergence continuum in an African plant biodiversity hotspot, I: drivers of population divergence in Restio capensis (Restionaceae). Molecular Ecology 23: 4373-4386.

Lindtke D, Gompert Z, Lexer C & Buerkle CA (2014). Unexpected ancestry of Populus seedlings from a hybrid zone implies a large role for postzygotic selection in the maintenance of species. Molecular Ecology 23: 4316-4330. 

Cortés AJ, Waeber S, Lexer C, Sedlacek J, Wheeler JA, van Kleunen M, Bossdorf O, Hoch G, Rixen C, Wipf S & S Karrenberg S (2014). Small-scale patterns in snowmelt timing affect gene flow and the distribution of genetic diversity in the alpine dwarf shrub Salix herbacea. Heredity 113: 233-239.

Litsios G, Wüest RO, Kostikova A, Forest F, Lexer C, Linder HP, Pearman PB, Zimmermann NE & Salamin N (2014). Effects of a fire response trait on diversification in replicated radiations. Evolution 68: 453-465.

Lexer C, Caseys C, Stritt C & Whitham TG (2013). Integrating the ‘genomic mosaic’ view of species into studies of biotic interactions: a comment on Bernhardsson et al. Ecology letters 16: 1515–e7.

Lindtke D, Gonzalez-Martinez SC, Macaya-Sanz D & Lexer C (2013). Admixture mapping of quantitative traits in Populus hybrid zones: power and limitations. Heredity 111:474-485.

Berthouzoz M, Maendly S, Betrisey S, Mangili S, Prunier P, Lexer C & Kozlowski G (2013). Some like it cold: distribution, ecology and phylogeny of Arenaria bernensis FAVARGER (Caryophyllaceae) from the western Prealps in Switzerland. Alpine Botany 123:65-75.

Scopece G, Croce A, Lexer C & Cozzolino S (2013). Components of reproductive isolation between Orchis mascula and O. pauciflora. Evolution 67: 2083-2093.

Fan Y, Rupert K, Wiedenhoeft AC, Woeste K, Lexer C & Meilan R (2013). Figured grain in aspen is heritable and not affected by graft-transmissible signals. Trees, 27:973-983.

Lexer C, Mangili S, Bossolini E, Forest F, Stolting KN, Pearman PB, Zimmermann NE & Salamin N (2013). Next generation’ biogeography: towards understanding the drivers of species diversification and persistence.Journal of Biogeography, 40:1013–1022.

Stölting KN, Nipper R, Lindtke D, Caseys C, Waeber S, Castiglione S & Lexer C (2013). Genomic scan for single nucleotide polymorphisms reveals patterns of divergence and gene flow between ecologically divergent species.  Molecular Ecology, 22:842-855.

Hamilton JA, Lexer C  & Aitken SN (2013). Differential introgression reveals candidate genes for selection across a spruce (Picea sitchensis x P. glauca) hybrid zone. New Phytologist, 197:927-938.

Caseys C, Glauser G, Stölting KN, Christe C, Albrectsen BR & Lexer C (2012). Effects of interspecific recombination on functional traits in trees revealed by metabolomics and genotyping-by-resequencing. Plant Ecology & Diversity, 5:457-471.

Lexer C & Stölting KN (2012). Whole genome sequencing (WGS) meets biogeography and shows that genomic selection in forest trees is feasible. New Phytologist, 196:652-654, 

Lindtke, Buerkle CA, Barbará T, Heinze B, Castiglione S, Bartha D & Lexer C (2012). Recombinant hybrids retain heterozygosity at many loci: new insights into the genomics of reproductive isolation in Populus. Molecular Ecology, 21:5042-5058.

Hamilton JA, Lexer C  & Aitken SN (2012). Genomic and phenotypic architecture of a spruce hybrid zone (Picea sitchensis × P. glauca). Molecular Ecology, 22:827-841. 

Litsios G, Pellissier L, Forest F, Lexer C, Pearman PB, Zimermann NE & Salamin N (2012). Trophic specialization influences the rate of environmental niche evolution in damselfishes (Pomacentridae).Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Biological Sciences, 279:3662-3669.

Versieux LM, Barbará T, Wanderley Md, Calvente A, Fay MF &  Lexer C (2012). Molecular phylogenetics of the Brazilian giant bromeliads (Alcantarea, Bromeliaceae): implications for morphological evolution and biogeography. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 64: 177-189.

Lexer C & Stölting KN (2011). Tracing the recombination and colonization history of hybrid species in space and time. Molecular Ecology, 20:3701-3704.

Allen AM, Thorogood CJ, Hegarty MJ, Lexer C & Hiscock SJ (2011). Pollen-pistil interactions and self-incompatibilty in the Asteraceae; new insights from studies of Senecio squalidus (Oxford ragwort), Annals of Botany, 108: 687-698.

Macaya-Sanz D, Suter L, Joseph J, Barbará T, Alba N, Gonzalez-Martínez SC, Widmer A & Lexer C (2011). Genetic analysis of post-mating reproductive barriers in hybridizing European Populus species. Heredity, 107:478-486.

Pinheiro F, de Barros F, Palma-Silva C, Fay MF, Lexer C & Cozzolino S (2011). Phylogeography and genetic differentiation along the distributional range of the orchid Epidendrum fulgens: a Neotropical coastal species not restricted to glacial refugia. Journal of Biogeography, 38:1923-1935.

Palma-Silva C, Wendt T, Pinheiro F, Barbará T, Fay MF, Cozzolino S & Lexer C (2011). Sympatric bromeliad species (Pitcairnia spp.) facilitate tests of mechanisms involved in species cohesion and reproductive isolation in Neotropical inselbergs. Molecular Ecology, 20:3185-3201.

Scopece G, Lexer C, Widmer A & Cozzolino S (2010). Polymorphism of postmating reproductive isolation within plant species. Taxon,  59:1367-1374.

Castiglione S, Cicatelli A, Lupi R, Patrignani G, Fossati T, Brundu G, Sabatti M, van Loo M & Lexer C (2010) Genetic structure and introgression in riparian populations of Populus alba L. Plant Biosystems 144:656-668.

Allen AM,  Lexer C, & Hiscock SJ (2010). Comparative analysis of pistil transcriptomes reveals conserved and novel genes expressed in dry, wet and semi-dry stigmas. Plant Physiology,  154:1347-1360.

Lexer C, Joseph JA, van Loo M, Barbará T, Heinze B, Bartha D, Castiglione S, Fay MF & Buerkle CA (2010). Genomic admixture analysis in EuropeanPopulus spp. reveals unexpected patterns of reproductive isolation and mating. Genetics, 186:699-712 .

Pinheiro F, de Barros F, Palma-Silva C, Meyer D, Fay MF, Suzuki RM, Lexer C & Cozzolino S (2010). Hybridization and introgression across different ploidy levels in the Neotropical orchids Epidendrum fulgens and E. puniceoluteum (Orchidaceae). Molecular Ecology, 19:3981-3994.

Allen AM, Lexer C & Hiscock SJ (2010). Characterisation of sunflower-21 (SF21) genes expressed in pollen and pistil of Senecio squalidus (Asteraceae) and their relationship with other members of the SF21 gene family. Sexual Plant Reproduction, 23:173-186.

de Carvalho D, Ingvarsson PK, Joseph J, Suter L, Sedivy C, Macaya-Sanz D, Cottrell J, Heinze B, Schanzer S, Lexer C (2010). Admixture facilitates adaptation from standing variation in the European aspen (P. tremula L.), a widespread forest tree. Molecular Ecology, 19:1638-1650.

Hidalgo E, González-Martínez SC, Lexer C & Heinze B (2010). Conservation genomics. In: Jansson S, Bhalerao R, Groover A (eds.) Genetics and Genomics of Populus, Springer, Heidelberg & New York.

Fussi B, Lexer C & Heinze B (2010). Phylogeography of Populus alba (L.) and Populus tremula (L.) in Central Europe: secondary contact and hybridisation during recolonisation from disconnected refugia: Tree Genetics & Genomes, 6:439-450.

Pinheiro F, Palma-Silva C, de Barros F, Felix LP, Lexer C, Cozzolino S & Fay MF (2009). Chloroplast microsatellite markers for the Neotropical orchid genus Epidendrum, and cross-amplification in other Laeliinae species (Orchidaceae). Conservation Genetics Resources, 1:505-511.

Palma-Silva C, Lexer C, Paggi GM, Barbará T, Bered F & Bodanese-Zanettini MH (2009). Range-wide patterns of nuclear and chloroplast DNA diversity in Vriesea gigantea (Bromeliaceae), a neotropical forest species. Heredity, 103:503-512.

Babik W, Butlin RK, Baker WJ, Papadopulos AST, Boulesteix M, Anstett MC, Lexer C, Hutton I & Savolainen V (2009). How sympatric is speciation in the Howea palms of Lord Howe Island? Molecular Ecology, 18:3629-3638.

Fay MF, Bone R, Cook P, Kahandawala I, Greensmith J, Harris S, Pedersen HAE, Ingrouille MJ & Lexer C  (2009). Genetic diversity in Cypripedium calceolus (Orchidaceae) with a focus on north-western Europe, as revealed by plastid DNA length polymorphisms. Annals of Botany, 104:517-525.

Gonzalez-Perez MA, Lledo MD, Lexer C, Fay M, Marrero M, Banares-Baudet A, Carque E & Sosa PA (2009). Genetic diversity and differentiation in natural and reintroduced populations of Bencomia exstipulata and comparisons with B. caudata (Rosaceae) in the Canary Islands: an analysis using microsatellites. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 160:429-441.

Lexer C, Joseph J, van Loo M, Prenner G, Heinze B, Chase MW & Kirkup D (2009). The use of digital image-based morphometrics to explore the ‘phenotypic mosaic’ in taxa with porous genomes. Taxon, 58:349-364.

Andrade IM, Mayo SJ, Van Den Berg C, Fay MF, Chester M, Lexer C & Kirkup D (2009). Genetic variation in natural populations of Anthurium sinuatum and A. pentaphyllum var. pentaphyllum (Araceae) from north-east Brazil using AFLP molecular markers. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 159:88-105.

Widmer A & Lexer C, Cozzolino S (2009). Evolution of reproductive isolation in plants. Heredity, 102:31-38.

Barbará T, Martinelli G, Palma-Silva C, Fay MF, Mayo S & Lexer C (2009). Genetic relationships and variation in reproductive strategies in four closely related bromeliads adapted to neotropical 'inselbergs': Alcantarea glaziouana, A. regina, A. geniculata and A. imperialis (Bromeliaceae). Annals of Botany, 103:65-77

Buerkle CA & Lexer C (2008). Admixture as the basis for genetic mapping. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 23:686-694. 
  
Paggi GM, Palma-Silva C, Bered F, Cidade FW, Sousa AP, Wendt T & Lexer C (2008). Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in Pitcairnia albiflos (Bromeliaceae), an endemic bromeliad from the Atlantic Rainforest, and cross-amplification in other species. Molecular Ecology Notes, 8:980-982.
 
Lexer C & Widmer A (2008). The genic view of plant speciation: recent progress and emerging questions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 363:3023-3036
 
Barbará T, Lexer C, Martinelli G, Mayo S, Fay MF & Heuertz M (2008). Within-population spatial genetic structure in four naturally fragmented plant species of a neotropical ‘inselberg’ radiation, Alcantarea imperialis, A. geniculata, A. glaziouana, and A. regina (Bromeliaceae). Heredity, 101:285-296.
 
van Loo M, Joseph JA, Heinze B, Fay MF & Lexer C (2008). Clonality and spatial genetic structure in Populus x canescens and its sympatric backcross parent P. alba in a Central European hybrid zone. New Phytologist, 177:506-516.
 
Joseph JA & Lexer C (2008). A set of novel DNA polymorphisms within candidate genes potentially involved in ecological divergence between Populus alba and P. tremula, two hybridising European forest trees. Molecular Ecology Notes, 8:188-192.
 
Palma-Silva C, Cavallari MM, Barbará T, Lexer C, Gimenes MA, Bered F & Zanettini MH (2007). A set of polymorphic microsatellite loci for Vriesea gigantea and Alcantarea imperialis (Bromeliaceae) and cross-amplification in other bromeliad species. Molecular Ecology Notes, 7:654-657. 
 
Lexer C, Buerkle A, Joseph J, Heinze B & Fay MF (2007). Admixture in European Populus hybrid zones makes feasible the mapping of loci that contribute to reproductive isolation and trait differences. Heredity, 98:74-84 (download PDF)
 
Lexer C, Van Loo M & Barbará T (2007). Towards forest community and ecosystem genomics. New Phytologist, 173:673-676.
 
Barbará T, Martinelli G, Fay MF, Mayo SJ & Lexer C (2007). Population differentiation and species cohesion in two closely related plants adapted to neotropical high-altitude ‘inselbergs’, Alcantarea imperialis and A. geniculata. Molecular Ecology, 16:1981-1992 (download PDF) 

Rieseberg LH, Kim S-C, Randell R; Whitney K, Gross B, Lexer C & Clay K (2007).  Hybridization and the colonization of novel habitats by annual sunflowers. Genetica, 129:149-165. 
 
Karrenberg S, Lexer C & Rieseberg LH (2007). Reconstructing the history of selection during homoploid hybrid speciation. The American Naturalist, 169:726-737.
  
Barbará T, Palma-Silva C, Paggi GM, Bered F, Fay MF & Lexer C (2007). Cross-species transfer of nuclear microsatellite markers: potential and limitations. Molecular Ecology, 16:3757-3767.
 
Andrade IM, Mayo SJ, Van den Berg, Fay MF, Chester M, Lexer C & Kirkup D (2007). A preliminary study of genetic variation in populations of Monstera adansonii var. klotzschiana (Araceae) from north-east Brazil, estimated with AFLP molecular markers. Annals of Botany, 100:1143-1154.

Brouillette LC, Rosenthal DM, Rieseberg LH, Lexer C, et al.(2007). Genetic architecture of leaf ecophysiological traits in Helianthus. Journal of Heredity, 98:142-146 .                 
 
Bratteler M, Lexer C & Widmer A (2006). Genetic architecture of traits associated with serpentine adaptation in Silene vulgaris. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 19:1149-1156. 
 
Savolainen V, Anstett M-C, Lexer C et al (2006). Sympatric speciation in palms on an oceanic island. Nature, 441:210-213 (download PDF)
 
Lexer C, Kremer A & Petit R (2006). Shared alleles in sympatric oaks: recurrent gene flow is a more parsimonious explanation than ancestral polymorphism. Comment. Molecular Ecology, 15:2007-2012.
 
Lexer C & van Loo M (2006). Contact zones: natural labs for studying evolutionary transitions. Current Biology, 16:R407-R409.
 
Karrenberg S, Edelist C, Lexer C & Rieseberg L (2006). Response to salinity in the homoploid hybrid species Helianthus paradoxus and its progenitors H. annuus and H. petiolaris. New Phytologist, 170:615-629. 
 
Lysak MA & Lexer C (2006). Towards the era of comparative evolutionary genomics in Brassicaceae. Plant Systematics and Evolution, 259:175-198.
 
Bratteler M, Lexer C & Widmer A (2006). A genetic linkage map of Silene vulgaris based on AFLP markers. Genome, 49:320-327.
 
Cozzolino S, Nardella AM, Impagliazzo S, Widmer A & Lexer C (2006). Hybridization and orchid conservation: should we protect the orchid hybrids or the orchid hybrid zones? Biological Conservation, 129:14-23.
 
Edelist C, Lexer C, Dillmann C, Sicard D & Rieseberg LH (2006). Microsatellite signature of ecological selection for salt tolerance in a wild sunflower hybrid species, Helianthus paradoxus. Molecular Ecology, 15:4623-4634. 
 
Savolainen V, Lexer C, Anstett MC, Hutton I, Clarkson JJ, Norup MV, Powell, Springate D, Salamin N & Baker WJ (2006). Evolutionary biology - Sympatric plant speciation in islands? Nature, 443:7114.
 
Lexer C, Fay MF, Joseph JA, M-S Nica & Heinze B (2005). Barrier to gene flow between two ecologically divergent Populus species, Populus alba (white poplar) and P. tremula (European aspen): the role of ecology and life history in gene introgression. Molecular Ecology, 14:1045-1057.

Lexer C, Rosenthal DM, Raymond O, Donovan LA  & Rieseberg LH (2005). The genetics of species differences in the wild annual sunflowers, Helianthus annuus and H. petiolaris. Genetics, 169:2225-2239.
 
Lexer C & Fay M (2005) Adaptation to environmental stress: a rare or frequent driver of speciation? Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 18:893-900.
 
Lexer C, Lai Z & Rieseberg LH. 2004. Candidate gene polymorphisms associated with salt tolerance in wild sunflower hybrids: implications for the origin of Helianthus paradoxus, a diploid sunflower hybrid species. New Phytologist, 161:225-233.
 
Lexer C, Heinze B, Alia R & Rieseberg LH (2004) Hybrid zones as a tool for identifying adaptive genetic variation in outbreeding forest trees: lessons from wild annual sunflowers (Helianthus spp.). Proceedings of the DYGEN conference (Dynamics and Conservation of Genetic Diversity in Forest Ecosystems), Dec. 2-5, 2002, Strasbourg, France. Forest Ecology and Management, 197:49-64.
 
Ludwig F, Rosenthal DM, Johnston JA, Kane N, Gross BL, Lexer C, Dudley SA, Rieseberg LH & Donovan LA (2004). Selection on leaf ecophysiological traits in a desert hybrid Helianthus species and early-generation hybrids. Evolution, 58:2682-2692. 
 
Gross BL, Kane NC, Lexer C, Ludwig F, Rosenthal DM, Donovan LA & Rieseberg LH (2004). Reconstructing the origin of Helianthus deserticola: survival and selection on the desert floor. The American Naturalist, 164:145-156.
 
Gonzalez-Perez MA, Llledo MD, Fay MF, Lexer C & Sosa PA (2004). Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in Bencomia exstipulata and B. caudata (Rosaceae). Molecular Ecology Notes, 4:130-132.
 
Juan A, Crespo MB, Cowan RS, Lexer C & Fay MF (2004). Patterns of variability and gene flow in Medicago citrina, an endangered endemic of islands in the western Mediterranean, as revealed by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Molecular Ecology, 13:2679-2690.
 
Lexer C, Welch ME, Durphy JL, Rieseberg LH (2003). Natural selection for salt tolerance quantitative trait loci (QTLs): Implications for the origin of Helianthus paradoxus, a diploid hybrid species. Molecular Ecology, 12:1225-1235 (download PDF)
 
Rieseberg LH, Raymond O, Rosenthal DM, Lai Z, Livingstone K, Nakazato T, Durphy JL, Schwarzbach AE, Donovan LA & Lexer C (2003). Major ecological transitions in wild sunflowers facilitated by hybridization. Science, 301:1211-1216. (download PDF)
 
Lexer C, Welch ME, Raymond O, Rieseberg LH (2003). The origin of ecological divergence in Helianthus paradoxus (Asteraceae): Selection on transgressive characters in a novel hybrid habitat. Evolution, 57:1989-2000. 
  
Lexer C, Randell R & Rieseberg LH (2003). Experimental hybridization as a tool for studying selection in the wild. Special Feature on ‘Selection studies in ecology: concepts, methods, and directions’. Ecology, 84:1688-1699.
 
Widmer A & Lexer C (2001) Glacial refugia: sanctuaries for allelic richness, but not for gene diversity. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 16:267-269.
 
Lexer C, Heinze B, Gerber S, Macalka-Kampfer S, Steinkellner H, Kremer A & Glössl J (2000). Microsatellite analysis of maternal half-sib families of Quercus robur, pedunculate oak (II): inferring the number of pollen donors from the offspring. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 100:858-865.
 
Lexer C, Heinze B, Steinkellner H, Kampfer S, Ziegenhagen B & Glössl J (1999). Microsatellite analysis of maternal half-sib families of Quercus robur, pedunculate oak: detection of seed contaminations and inference of the seed parents from the offspring. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 99:185-191.
 
Streiff R, Ducousso A, Lexer C, Steinkellner H, Glössl J & Kremer A (1999). Pollen dispersal inferred from paternity analysis in a mixed oak stand ofQuercus robur and Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. Molecular Ecology, 8:831-841.
 
Barreneche T, Bodenes C, Lexer C, Trontin JF, Fluch S, Streiff R, Plomion C, Roussel G, Steinkellner H, Burg K, Favre JM, Glössl J & Kremer A (1998). A genetic linkage map of Quercus robur L. (pedunculate oak) based on RAPD, SCAR, microsatellite, minisatellite, isozyme and 5s rDNA markers.Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 97:1090-1103.
 
Kampfer S, Lexer C, Glössl J & Steinkellner H (1998). Characterization of (GA)n microsatellite loci from Quercus robur. Hereditas, 129:183-186. 
 
Sefc KM, Guggenberger S, Regner F, Lexer C, Glossl J & Steinkellner H  (1998). Genetic analysis of grape berries and raisins using microsatellite markers. Vitis, 37:123-125.
 
Steinkellner H, Lexer C, Turetschek E & Glössl J (1997). Conservation of (GA)n microsatellite loci between Quercus species. Molecular Ecology, 6:1189-1194.
 
Steinkellner H, Fluch S, Turetschek E, Lexer C, Streiff R, Kremer A, Burg K & Glössl J (1997). Identification and characterization of (GA/CT)n -microsatellite loci from Quercus petraea. Plant Molecular Biology, 33:1093-1096.

Last update: Dec 2018