ROW: Generic Relationships in North American Astereae (Compositae) Using Chloroplast DNA Restriction Site Mapping

向日葵部落的135个属之间的进化关系鲜为人知。向日葵是一个重要的生态类群，尤其是在美国西部。文献中对这一主题的讨论大多集中在部落内部染色体数量可能的变化模式上，但即使是这个问题也仍然没有解决。梅雷迪斯·莱恩博士将获得职业发展奖，他将在康涅狄格大学罗伯特·詹森博士的实验室工作，学习叶绿体DNA限制酶切点图谱的强大新技术。她将使用这些方法对该建筑群中的33个属进行研究，以获得比较数据。这些数据将用于计算机辅助系统发育分析，并与形态数据的类似分析进行比较。这样的系统发育将有助于解决菊科植物染色体数目进化模式的问题，并将澄清属间的分类关系。关于几个有问题的属的分类地位的一些具体问题，如Lessingia和Benitoa，以及chysothamnus和Ericameria，可以使用比较DNA信息来回答。还将开始研究大的单胞虫属及其近缘种。詹森博士的实验室是一个非常活跃的实验室，与其他系统论专家的合作互动将增加莱恩博士未来研究的可能性。

Evolutionary relationships among the 135 genera of sunflowers of the tribe Astereae, an ecologically important group especially in the American West, are poorly known. What discussion of this topic there has been in the literature has concentrated mostly on possible modes of change in chromosome numbers within the tribe, but even that issue remains unresolved. Dr. Meredith Lane, under a Career Advancement Award, will work in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Jansen at University of Connecticut to learn the powerful new techniques of chloroplast DNA restriction site mapping. She will use these methods to study 33 genera in the complex, to obtain comparative data. These data will be used in a computer-aided phylogenetic analysis and compared to a similar analysis of morphological data. Such a phylogeney will help resolve the question of the mode of chromosome number evolution in the Astereae and will clarify intergeneric taxonomic relationships. A number of specific questions about the taxonomic status of several problematic genera such as Lessingia and Benitoa, and Chrysothamnus and Ericameria can be answered using the comparative DNA information. Work will also begin on the large genus Haplopappus and its relatives. Dr. Jansen's laboratory is a very active one, and collaborative interactions with other systematists will enhance possiblities for future research by Dr. Lane.