S. Neale1 • W. Goodall-Copestake1,2 • C.A. Kidner1,3*
ABSTRACT
As a large and diverse tropical genus, Begonia has been highlighted as a research subject at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and has been the subject of several projects over the past few years. We have been conducting some preliminary studies of evolutionary development in the genus and in this chapter discuss the potential of Begonia for research of this kind. Advances in methods for working with Begonia are introduced, including DNA and RNA extraction protocols. Preliminary results are described which further demonstrate the particular interest of the genus for studies at the level of gene, population and species.
