 "Silene" species have also been used to study speciation, host-pathogen interactions, biological species invasions, adaptation to heavy-metal-contaminated soils, metapopulation genetics, and organelle genome evolution.Notably, some members of the genus "Silene" hold the distinction of harboring the largest mitochondrial genomes ever identified.If the related genera "Lychnis", "Melandrium", and "Viscaria" are included in "Silene", it contains about 700 species.