PRF/J: Evolution of Canopy Architecture in the Maple genus, Acer: A Phylogenetic Approach

9403252其他功能和比较研究已经涉及了各种植物性状的种内和种间变异，但使用系统发育重建来研究树冠设计各方面的进化和共同适应是新颖的。这个项目由四个部分组成：a)利用活的收藏(植物园)的材料，将30到40种北美和亚洲的枫树(宏，总共有100多种)建立一个基于DNA的系统发育图；b)将广泛调查树冠结构的物种间差异；c)将研究北美东部6个物种种群的种内差异；d)将应用系统发育比较分析的方法来测试树叶和树冠结构特征之间的相关进化变化。树冠结构的适应意义是植物生态学中一个长期存在的问题。采用系统论方法来解决这个问题是创新的、独特的，而且肯定对环境生物学具有重大的希望。在这项工作中纳入了分子进化的方面也支持了这一点。除了基础科学知识的好处外，潜在的衍生产品还包括将来出于园艺/观赏或其他目的而对植物建筑属性进行基因改造的可能性。***

9403252 Ackerly Other functional and comparative studies have dealt with intra- and interspecific variation of various plant characters, but use of phylogeny reconstruction to investigate evolution and coadaptation among aspects of canopy design is novel. Four components comprise this project: a) using material from living collections (botanical gardens), a DNA - based phylogeny will be generated for 30 to 40 North American and Asian species of maple (Acer, of which there are more than a hundred species altogether), b) a broad survey of interspecific variation in canopy architecture will be conducted, c) intraspecific variation in populations of six eastern North American species are to be studied, and d) methods of phylogenetic comparative analysis will be applied to test for correlated evolutionary change among suites of leaf and canopy architectural traits. %%% The adaptive significance of tree canopy architecture is a long - standing problem in plant ecology. Adoption of a systematics methodology to the question is innovative, unique, and one that certainly holds significant promise for environmental biology. The incorporation of a molecular evolution aspect in the work also bolsters it. In addition to benefits to fundamental scientific knowledge, potential spin - offs would include the possibility that plant architecture attributes could be genetically altered in the future, for horticultural / ornamental or other purposes. ***