Data from: Repeated evolution of storage root and invasions of alpine biome drove replicated radiations of the megadiverse Corydalis (Papaveraceae) in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

The interplay of key innovation and ecological opportunity is commonly
recognized to be the catalyst for rapid radiation. Underground storage
organs (USOs), as a vital ecological trait, are advantageous for
adaptation of plants to extreme environments, but receive less attention
compared to aboveground organs. Repeated evolution of various USOs has
occurred across the plant tree of life. However, whether repeated
occurrences of a USO in different clades of a group can promote its
replicated radiations in combination with the invasion of similar
environments remains poorly known. Corydalis is a megadiverse genus in
Papaveraceae and exhibits remarkable variations in USO morphology and
biome occupancy. Here, we first generated a robust phylogeny for Corydalis
with wide taxonomic and genomic coverage based on plastome and nuclear
ribosomal DNA sequence data. By dating the branching events,
reconstructing ancestral ranges, evaluating diversification dynamics, and
inferring evolutionary patterns of USOs and biomes and their correlations,
we then tested whether the interplay of USO evolution and biome shifts has
driven rapid diversification of some Corydalis lineages. Our results
indicate that Corydalis began to diversify in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau
(QTP) at ca. 41 Ma, and 88% of dispersals happened through forests,
suggesting that forests served as important dispersal corridors for range
expansion of the genus. The storage root has originated independently at
least six times in Corydalis since the Miocene, and its acquisition could
have operated as a key innovation towards the adaptation to the alpine
biome in the QTP. Repeated evolution of this game-changing trait and
invasions of alpine biome, in combination with geoclimatic changes, could
have jointly driven independent radiations of the two clades of Corydalis
in the QTP at ca. 6 Ma. Our study provides new insights into the joint
contribution of USO repeated evolution and biome shifts to replicated
radiations, hence increasing our ability to predict evolutionary
trajectories in plants facing similar environmental pressures.