RPG: A Phylogenetic Analysis of the Dichrostachys Group (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae)

Dichrostachys组包括五个豆科植物属，其多样性中心位于马达加斯加和亚热带北美。新大陆的属已经得到了很好的研究，但在很少收集到的马达加斯加属中，物种和属的界限知之甚少。这项拟议的研究将结合形态、花粉、叶绿体DNA和花发育的数据，研究这五个属物种之间的进化关系。系统发育树将有助于阐明属的界限，并为研究豆科植物花粉的进化和花的发育提供一个框架。这项研究还应该为热带北美豆科植物的生物地理关系提供新的见解。这一组中的一些新热带种被开发为饲用豆类，一个温带种被开发为多年生粮食作物。这种尚未被研究的马达加斯加物种也有可能同样提供食物和饲料豆类。此外，拟议在马达加斯加开展的实地工作将有助于提供有关马达加斯加不常收集的豆科植物区系的初步数据。本研究是豆科含羞草亚科分子特征系统应用的重大进展，也是首次将与花发育有关的性状与形态和分子性状相结合进行系统分析。

The Dichrostachys group includes five genera of legumes with centers of diversity in Madagascar and subtropical North America. The New World genera have been well-studied, but species and generic limits are poorly understood in the rarely collected Malagasy genera. The proposed research will investigate evolutionary relationships among species in the five genera, integrating data from morphology, pollen, chloroplast DNA, and floral development. A phylogenetic tree will serve to clarify the generic limits, as well as provide a framework for study of the evolution of pollen and floral development in legumes. This study should also provide new insights into the biogeographic relationships of tropical North American legumes. Some neotropical species in this group are being developed as forage legumes, and one temperate species as perennial food crop. It is possible that the as yet unstudied Malagasy species could likewise provide food and forage legumes. In addition, the proposed field work in Madagascar will contribute primary data on the infrequently collected legume flora of Madagascar. This study represents a significant development in the use of molecular character systems in the Mimosa subfamily of legumes, and is the first time that characters involving floral development have been intergrated with morphological and molecular characters in a systematic analysis.