REU: Pollen Morphology and Evolution in the Proteaceae

Proteaceae是可追溯到白垩纪时期的一组不同的植物，现在由于中生代大陆冈瓦那的解体而分散在南部大陆。将使用光学和电子显微镜收集关于现代和化石花粉的新数据。首次通过将花粉数据与整个植物的形态、解剖和细胞学信息相结合来评估该家族内的祖先-后代关系。这项拟议的研究将扩大我们对该科在大陆漂移过程中的演化和地理历史的理解，并将澄清其与其他植物科的关系。在评估关系时使用多个数据集也将阐明角色进化的过程。

The Proteaceae are a diverse group of plants dating back to the Cretaceous Period, now dispersed among the southern continents by the break-up of the Mesozoic continent Gondwana. New data on modern and fossil pollen will be gathered using light and electron microscopy. For the first time, the ancestor- descendant relationships within the family will be assessed by combining pollen data with information on the morphology, anatomy, and cytology of the whole plants. The proposed research will expand our understanding of the evolution and geographic history of the family during continental drift, and will clarify its relationships with other families of plants. The use of multiple datasets in assessing relationships will also illuminate the process of character evolution.