Dissertation Research: Biosystematic Analysis of the Pleopeltis macrocarpa Complex

水蛭科是同孢子蕨类植物中最大的科之一，在新大陆以单一部落水蛭科为代表。部落中大约90%的物种出现在新热带地区，在那里它们是附生植物区系的显著组成部分。尽管物种集中在热带地区，但该部落的生物系统研究只集中在温带的多盆草属物种上。研究生伊丽莎白·安德鲁斯在指导老师克里斯托弗·豪弗勒的指导下，将把在Polypodium研究中被证明成功的分析技术应用于一组密切相关的热带物种。形态学和分子数据将结合在一起，以区分物种，并在Pleopeltis复合体（一组15个单叶物种）中解决系统发育或系谱关系。在牙买加和哥斯达黎加的实地考察将为栽培、染色体、同工酶（蛋白质）和叶绿体DNA分析提供植物材料。预期的研究将完成一组附生蕨类植物的第一个生物系统研究，它整合了分子和形态数据，因此它可能为未来主要附生水蛭科的研究奠定基础。

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.