Dissertation Research: Systematics and Evolution of ColumneaSection Pentadenia (Gesneriaceae)

研究生J·F·史密斯提议对新热带植物五倍子组进行专题修订和进化研究。在他的主要教授K.J.Sytsma的指导下，Smith先生将收集南美物种的代表，并对它们的生殖形态、叶绿体DNA序列和核糖体DNA限制模式进行表征。分子数据将被用来建立现存物种之间的进化关系，生殖结构将根据这个进化框架进行解释。这项拟议的研究将增加我们对一种鲜为人知的热带植物属的了解，并将使用最先进的手段来揭开它们的进化史。通过将进化历史的分子方法与功能特征的形态数据相结合，该项目将阐明适应的广泛问题。

Graduate student J. F. Smith proposes a monographic revision and evolutionary study of the neotropical plant genus Columnea section Pentadenia. Under the direction of his major professor K. J. Sytsma, Mr. Smith will collect representatives of the South American species and characterize their reproductive morphology, chloroplast DNA sequences, and nuclear ribosomal DNA restriction patterns. The molecular data will be used to establish the evolutionary relationships among living species, and the reproductive structures will be interpreted against this evolutionary framework. The proposed study will increase our understanding of a poorly known tropical plant genus, and will use the most advanced means for unravelling their evolutionary history. By combining molecular approaches to evolutionary history with morphological data on functional characters, the project will illuminate the broad question of adaptation.