Dissertation Research: Evolutionary Genetics of the Adiantumpedatum Complex

在教授顾问David Barrington博士的指导下，Cathy Paris女士将使用几种现代分子方法以及传统的形态和染色体分析来评估地理上分布广泛的北半球少女毛蕨类植物Adiantum pedatum的遗传变异性和进化趋势。这项研究将测量这个复合体中几个分类亚种之间的基因差异水平，并将为日本和北美东部已知的双染色体小种的可能起源提供证据，这些小种被怀疑代表着这些蕨类植物中独立、平行出现的多倍体。这项研究将传统的蕨类植物分类研究与新的分子数据库相结合，并聚焦于植物进化中一个有趣的问题。

Under the guidance of faculty adviser Dr. David Barrington, Ms. Cathy Paris will employ several modern molecular methods along with traditional morphological and chromosomal analyses to assess genetic variability and trends of evolution within the geographically widespread complex of Northern Hemisphere maiden- hair ferns, Adiantum pedatum. The research will measure levels of gene differences among the several taxonomic subspecies in this complex, and will provide evidence on the likely origins of the doubled-chromosome races known in Japan and in eastern North America, and suspected to represent independent, parallel occurrences of polyploidy in these ferns. The research provides a comprehensive integration of traditional taxonomic studies of fern characters with new molecular databases, and focuses upon an interesting problem in plant evolution.