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About
About
As an evolutionary botanist, my background is in taxonomic, phylogenetic, and biogeographic research with a focus on tropical African Rubiaceae. Originally, my multi-disciplinary research focused on the study of the evolutionary and ecological aspects of a plant-bacteria symbiosis in African plants. My current research interests lie in valorising the extensive biodiversity data that is present in botanical collections and open access databases. I combine existing and newly gathered biodiversity data with modern molecular approaches to address fundamental questions about the evolution and ecology of tropical African plant diversity.
I am the editor in chief of Plant Ecology and Evolution, a scientific journal that publishes about the ecology and evolution of all plant groups, and with a particular interest in (sub)tropical African biodiversity. The journal is diamond open access and provides a platform for botanists to disseminate their research on plant biodiversity.
Beyond my academic roles, I actively engage with the broader Rubiaceae community, acting as a point of contact and maintaining a dedicated Rubiaceae-Gentianales website. Additionally, I manage the largest database of Rubiaceae literature, which serves as an indispensable resource for researchers worldwide.
Publications
Publications
2025
Verstraete B, De Block P, Robbrecht E, 2025. A survey of generic names in Rubiaceae (Gentianales) with notes on context and patterns in naming. Taxon. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.13360
Robbrecht E, Verstraete B, 2025. Anthospermum, an unusual name for an African genus of Rubiaceae. African Biodiversity & Conservation 55: a2. https://doi.org/10.38201/abc.v55.2
Verstraete B, Robbrecht E, 2025. Caelospermum versus Coelospermum in Rubiaceae (Gentianales): their etymologies explained. PhytoKeys 252: 119–124. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.252.136744
2024
Ntore S, Nkengurutse J, De Backer S, Sonké B, De Block P, Janssens SB, Verstraete B, Robbrecht E, 2024. Calycosiphonia or Kupeantha (Coffeeae, Rubiaceae)? A morphological and molecular study of a new species from the Albertine Rift. European Journal of Technology 935: 1–28. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2024.935.2539
2023
Verstraete B, Janssens SB, De Block P, Asselman P, Mendez Silva G, Ly SN, Hamon P, Guyot R, 2023. Metagenomics of African Empogona and Tricalysia (Rubiaceae) reveals the presence of leaf endophytes. PeerJ 11: e15778. http://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15778
Nuñez Florentin M, Verstraete B, Salas RM, Dessein S, 2023. Insights into the morphology and evolution of orbicules in the Spermacoce clade (Spermacoceae-Rubiaceae) and implications for systematics. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 203: 253–270. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boad023
2022
de Boer H, Rydmark MO, Verstraete B, Gravendeel B, 2022. Molecular identification of plants: from sequence to species. Advanced Books. https://doi.org/10.3897/ab.e98875
Verstraete B, 2022. On the occasion of its 160th birthday, Plant Ecology and Evolution gets a makeover. Plant Ecology and Evolution 155(2): 181. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.84881
2021
Verstraete B, 2021. Our contribution to documenting biodiversity in a changing world. Plant Ecology and Evolution 154(1): 3–4. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2021.1858
2020
Verstraete B, 2020. A new decade and a new editor in chief for Plant Ecology and Evolution. Plant Ecology and Evolution 153(2): 185–187. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2020.1761
Janssens SB, Couvreur TLP, Mertens A, Dauby G, Dagallier L-PMJ, Vanden Abeele S, Vandelook F, Mascarello M, Beeckman H, Sosef MSM, Droissart V, van der Bank M, Maurin O, Hawthorne W, Marshall C, Réjou-Méchain M, Beina D, Baya F, Merckx V, Verstraete B, Hardy O, 2020. A large-scale species level dated angiosperm phylogeny for evolutionary and ecological analyses. Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e39677. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.8.e39677
2019
Sinnesael A, Leroux O, Janssens SB, Smets E, Panis B, Verstraete B, 2019. Is the bacterial leaf nodule symbiosis obligate for Psychotria umbellata? The development of a Burkholderia-free host plant. PLoS ONE 14(7): e0219863. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219863
Prylutskyi O, Abrahamyan A, Voronova N, Aloyan T, Bohirova M, Borodin O, Darmostuk V, Gasparyan N, Ivanova N, Johaadien R, Khachatryan H, Krasovskii S, Krishin G, Kulikova A, Kurbonbekova S, Makeyeva E, Mamadalieva M, Melikyan A, Mirzorakhimov A, Movsisyan A, Mubalieva S, Novikov A, Kadyrova I, Russell LA, Shashkov M, Sheriko A, Schigel D, Sysoliatin E, Tykarski P, Verstraete B, Yatsiuk I, Zykova M, Endresen D, de Boer H, 2019. BioDATA - Biodiversity Data for Internationalisation in Higher Education. Research Ideas and Outcomes 5: e36276. https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.5.e36276
Iwanycki Ahlstrand NE, Verstraete B, Hassemer G, Dunbar-Co S, Hoggard R, Meudt HM, Rønsted N, 2019. Ancestral range reconstruction of remote oceanic island species of Plantago (Plantaginaceae) reveals differing scales and modes of dispersal. Journal of Biogeography 46: 706–722. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13525
2018
Sinnesael A, Eeckhout S, Janssens SB, Smets E, Panis B, Leroux O, Verstraete B, 2018. Detection of Burkholderia in the seeds of Psychotria punctata (Rubiaceae) - Microscopic evidence for vertical transmission in the leaf nodule symbiosis. PLoS ONE 13(12): e0209091. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209091
Bruun-Lund S, Verstraete B, Kjellberg F, Rønsted N, 2018. Rush hour at the Museum - Diversification patterns provide new clues for the success of figs (Ficus L., Moraceae). Acta Oecologica 90: 4–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2017.11.001
Verstraete B, Steyn H, Van Wyk A, 2018. Taxonomic status of some geofrutex members of Vanguerieae (Rubiaceae): notes on Eriosemopsis and Pygmaeothamnus and the description of a new genus Bridsonia. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 186: 47–65. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/box076
2017
Verstraete B, Janssens SB, Rønsted N, 2017. Non-nodulated bacterial leaf symbiosis promotes the evolutionary success of its host plants in the coffee family (Rubiaceae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 113: 161–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2017.05.022
Groeninckx I, Janssens SB, Smets E, Verstraete B, 2017. Description of 11 new Astiella (Spermacoceae, Rubiaceae) species endemic to Madagascar. European Journal of Taxonomy 312: 1–40. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2017.312
2016
Zemagho L, Liede-Schumann S, Sonké B, Janssens SB, Lachenaud O, Verstraete B, Dessein S, 2016. The phylogeny of the tribe Sabiceeae (Ixoroideae-Rubiaceae) revisited, with the proposition of a new subgeneric classification for Sabicea Aubl. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 182: 551–580. https://doi.org/10.1111/boj.12475
Pinto-Carbó M, Sieber S, Dessein S, Wicker T, Verstraete B, Gademann K, Eberl L, Carlier A, 2016. Evidence of horizontal gene transfer between obligate leaf nodule symbionts. ISME Journal 10: 2092–2105. https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2016.27
Janssens SB, Vandelook F, De Langhe E, Verstraete B, Smets E, Vandenhouwe I, Swennen R, 2016. Evolutionary dynamics and biogeography of Musaceae reveal a correlation between the diversification of the banana family and the geological and climatic history of Southeast Asia. New Phytologist 210: 1453–1465. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13856
Lemaire B, Van Cauwenberghe J, Verstraete B, Chimphango SBM, Stirton C, Honnay O, Smets E, Sprent J, James EK, Muasya AM, 2016. Characterization of the papilionoid-Burkholderia interaction in the Fynbos biome: the diversity and distribution of beta-rhizobia nodulating Podalyria calyptrata (Fabaceae, Podalyrieae). Systematic and Applied Microbiology 39: 41–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.syapm.2015.09.006
Janssens SB, Groeninckx I, De Block P, Verstraete B, Smets E, Dessein S, 2016. Dispersing towards Madagascar: biogeography and evolution of the Madagascan endemics of the Spermacoceae tribe (Rubiaceae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 95: 58–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2015.10.024
2015
Vrijdaghs A, De Block P, Verstraete B, Groeninckx I, Smets E, Dessein S, 2015. A developmental model for the corolla in Rubiaceae. Cryptic character states in corollas in the Spermacoceae alliance. Plant Ecology and Evolution 148(2): 237–255. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2015.1088
2014
Van Cauwenberghe J, Verstraete B, Lemaire B, Lievens B, Michiels J, Honnay O, 2014. Population structure of Rhizobium leguminosarum nodulating Vicia cracca at different geographic scales. Systematic and Applied Microbiology 37(8): 613–621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.syapm.2014.08.002
Verstraete B, Moon H-K, Smets E, Huysmans S, 2014. Orbicules in flowering plants: a phylogenetic perspective on their form and function. The Botanical Review 80(2): 107–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12229-014-9135-1
Verstraete B, Peeters C, Van Wyk B, Smets E, Dessein S, Vandamme P, 2014. Intraspecific variation in Burkholderia caledonica: Europe vs. Africa and soil vs. endophytic isolates. Systematic and Applied Microbiology 37(3): 194–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.syapm.2013.12.001
2013
Verstraete B, Janssens SB, Lemaire B, Smets E, Dessein S, 2013. Phylogenetic lineages in Vanguerieae (Rubiaceae) associated with Burkholderia bacteria in sub-Saharan Africa. American Journal of Botany 100(12): 2380–2387. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1300303
Verstraete B, Lachenaud O, Smets E, Dessein S, Sonké B, 2013. Taxonomy and phylogeny of Cuviera (Rubiaceae - Vanguerieae) and reinstatement of the genus Globulostylis with the description of three new species. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 173(3): 407–441. https://doi.org/10.1111/boj.12062
Van Elst D, Nuyens S, Van Wyk B, Verstraete B, Dessein S, Prinsen E, 2013. Distribution of the cardiotoxin pavettamine in the coffee family (Rubiaceae) and its significance for gousiekte, a fatal poisoning of ruminants. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 67: 15–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2013.02.022
Verstraete B, Janssens SB, Smets E, Dessein S, 2013. Symbiotic ß-proteobacteria beyond legumes: Burkholderia in Rubiaceae. PLoS ONE 8(1): e55260. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055260
2012
Lemaire B, Van Oevelen S, De Block P, Verstraete B, Smets E, Prinsen E, Dessein S, 2012. Identification of the bacterial endosymbionts in leaf nodules of Pavetta (Rubiaceae). International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 62(1): 202–209. https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.028019-0
2011
Lemaire B, Robbrecht E, Van Wyk B, Van Oevelen S, Verstraete B, Prinsen E, Smets E, Dessein S, 2011. Identification, origin and evolution of leaf nodulating symbionts of Sericanthe (Rubiaceae). Journal of Microbiology 49(6): 935–941. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-011-1163-5
Verstraete B, Groeninckx I, Smets E, Huysmans S, 2011. Phylogenetic signal of orbicules at family level – Rubiaceae as case study. Taxon 60(3): 742–757. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.603010
Verstraete B, Van Elst D, Steyn H, Van Wyk B, Lemaire B, Smets E, Dessein S, 2011. Endophytic bacteria in toxic South African plants: identification, phylogeny and possible involvement in gousiekte. PLoS ONE 6(4): e19265. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019265
2010
Huysmans S, Verstraete B, Smets E, Chatrou L, 2010. Distribution of orbicules in Annonaceae mirrors phylogenetic trend in angiosperms. Plant Ecology and Evolution 143(2): 199–211. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2010.438
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