Systematics of the 'Glabristyled' Robinieae (Leguminosae): Molecular and Traditional Data

蒙大拿州立大学（Montana State University）的马特·拉文（Matt Lavin）博士开始对热带木本豆科罗宾汉（Robinieae）的形态和分子进行研究，他首先在西印度群岛进行实地采集，收集植物标本和实验室分析叶绿体DNA突变所需的材料。该类群的物种边界和关系尚不清楚，将植物标本室研究的传统形态特征与限制性内切酶分析的新分子标记相结合，有望改善分类顺序，并有助于确定分类群之间的系统发育联系。反过来，这些系统的见解将允许对西印度群岛的地质历史和该地区植物迁移理论提出的各种假设进行测试。拉文博士是一位年轻的研究者，在他的博士和博士后时期对豆科植物进行了令人印象深刻的分类研究。叶绿体DNA的限制性内切酶分析技术是强大的技术，揭示了物种之间的突变差异，反映了它们最近的共同祖先以来的进化分歧。他正在研究的豆类包括一些用于可可和咖啡种植园间作的豆类，其木材用于当地建筑和家具，以及用于家畜的牧草。提高对该物种及其地理分布的分类知识有助于这些天然植物资源的长期管理和保护。

Dr. Matt Lavin of Montana State University is beginning morphological and molecular studies of woody tropical legumes of the Robinieae group, starting with field collecting in the West Indies to amass herbarium specimens and materials for laboratory analyses of chloroplast DNA mutations. Species boundaries and relationships are poorly known in this group, and the integration of traditional morphological characters from herbarium studies with new molecular markers from restriction enzyme analyses promises to improve taxonomic ordering and help determine phylogenetic linkages among the taxa. In turn, these systematic insights will allow tests of various hypotheses proposed for the geological history of the islands of the West Indies and for theories of plant migrations in the region. Dr. Lavin is a young investigator with an impressive record of taxonomic research on legumes from his doctoral and postdoctoral periods. The techniques of restriction enzyme analysis of chloroplast DNA are powerful ones, uncovering mutational differences between species that reflect evolutionary divergence since their most recent common ancestor. The legumes he is studying include some which are used for intercropping in cocoa and coffee plantations, whose wood is used for local construction and furniture, and herbage used for domestic animals. Improved taxonomic knowledge of the species and their geographic distributions should aid in long-range management and conservation of these natural plant resources.