Systematic Study of Palms

在出版了一本关于世界棕榈树多样性和生物学的宏伟著作后，康奈尔大学的娜塔莉·乌尔博士和她的同事们将继续研究棕榈树的分类关系，特别是马达加斯加的棕榈树。本课程将结合叶、茎、花和果实形态的其他方面，对棕榈树的胚珠和雄蕊多样性进行解剖学研究。乌尔博士还将与她在康奈尔大学的同事杰弗里·道尔博士合作，开始对选定的棕榈树群体的叶绿体DNA的变异性进行深入的分子研究。这项工作将为确定棕榈属的系统发育关系提供新的数据，可能的假设是叶绿体DNA组成的相似性预示着密切的进化亲缘关系。该项目提供了一个热带植物重要类群系统发育的综合形态和分子分析的范例。

Following publication of a magnificent volume on the diversity and biology of palms in the world, Dr. Natalie Uhl at Cornell University and her colleagues will continue their study of taxonomic relationships of palms, particularly those of Madagascar. Special emphasis will be placed on anatomical investigations of ovule and stamen diversity among palms, integrated with other aspects of leaf, stem, flower, and fruit morphology. Collaborating with her Cornell colleague Dr. Jeffrey Doyle, Dr. Uhl will also begin intensive molecular investigations of variability in chloroplast DNA of select groups of palms. This work will generate new data for determining phylogenetic relationships of palm genera, under the likely assumption that similarity in chloroplast DNA composition betokens close evolutionary affinity. The project provides a model example of integrated morphological and molecular analyses of phylogeny in an important group of tropical plants.