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

蒙大拿州立大学的马特·拉文博士 热带木本豆科植物的形态和分子研究 刺槐族，从西部野外采集开始 印度将为实验室收集植物标本和材料 叶绿体DNA突变分析。 物种边界和 在这个群体中，人们对这种关系知之甚少， 植物标本馆研究的传统形态特征 用限制性内切酶分析的新分子标记 有望改善分类排序， 分类群之间的系统发育联系。 反过来，这些系统 洞察力将允许测试为 西印度群岛的地质历史， 该地区的植物迁移理论。 拉文医生是个年轻的调查员有着令人印象深刻的记录 他的博士论文中关于豆科植物的分类学研究， 博士后时期。 限制性内切酶技术 叶绿体DNA的分析是强大的，揭示 物种之间的突变差异反映了进化 从它们最近的共同祖先开始就有分歧。 豆科 他正在研究的包括一些用于间作的作物， 可可和咖啡种植园，其木材用于当地 建筑和家具，以及用于家庭的牧草 动物 提高物种的分类学知识， 地理分布应有助于长期管理， 保护这些天然植物资源。

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.