Dissertation Research: Biosystematic Analysis of the Pleopeltis macrocarpa Complex

水龙骨科是最大的科之一 同孢蕨类植物和在新大陆是由单一的代表 水龙骨科。部落中大约90%的物种都出现在 新热带地区是热带地区的重要组成部分 附生植物群。尽管物种如此集中， 在热带，部落内的生物系统研究只集中在 在温带的水龙骨属植物上。研究生 学生伊丽莎白·安德鲁斯，在指导老师的指导下， Christopher Haufler将应用分析技术， 在对水龙骨属植物的研究中， 相关热带物种形态学和分子数据将 在区分物种和解决系统发育 或Pleopeltis复合体内的家谱关系， 由15个单叶种组成的一组。在牙买加和哥斯达黎加的实地考察 Rica将提供用于栽培、染色体、 同工酶（蛋白质）和叶绿体DNA分析。预期 研究将完成一组生物系统的第一次研究， 附生蕨类植物，它整合了分子和形态学数据， 因此，它可以作为未来研究的基础， 主要附生水龙骨科。

The Polypodiaceae is one of the largest families of homosporous ferns and in the New World is represented by the single tribe Polypodieae. About 90% of the species in the tribe occur in the neotropics where they are a conspicuous component of the epiphytic flora. Despite this concentration of species in the tropics, biosystematic studies within the tribe have focused only on the temperate zone species in the genus Polypodium. Graduate student Elisabeth Andrews, under the direction of faculty advisor Christopher Haufler, will apply analytical techniques that have proven successful in studies of Polypodium to a group of closely related tropical species. Morphological and molecular data will be combined in distinguishing species and in resolving phylogenetic or genealogical relationships within the Pleopeltis complex, a group of 15 simple-leaved species. Fieldwork in Jamaica and Costa Rica will provide plant material for cultivation, for chromosomal, isozymic (protein), and chloroplast DNA analyses. The anticipated research will complete the first biosystematic study of a group of epiphytic ferns, which integrates molecular and morphological data, and as such it may serve as a foundation for future studies within the predominantly epiphytic Polypodiaceae.