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

dihrostachys组包括5个豆科植物属，其多样性中心在马达加斯加和北美亚热带。新大陆属已经得到了很好的研究，但是很少收集到的马达加斯加属的种和属限制却知之甚少。该研究将通过整合形态学、花粉、叶绿体DNA和花发育等数据，研究五属植物间的进化关系。系统发育树将有助于澄清属的界限，并为研究豆科植物花粉的进化和花的发育提供一个框架。该研究也将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物种正在开发作为饲料豆科植物，一个温带物种作为多年生粮食作物。这是可能的，尚未研究马达加斯加物种同样可以提供食物和饲料豆科植物。此外，拟议在马达加斯加进行的实地工作将提供关于马达加斯加不经常收集的豆科植物区系的原始数据。本研究是豆科含羞草亚科分子性状系统研究的重要进展，首次将花发育相关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.