CAA: Molecular Systematic Studies of Selected Genera in the Red Algal Family Rhodomelaceae

阿蓬特9629662 本研究的目的是表征广泛分布的，物种丰富的和药学上重要的红藻属凹顶藻的选定物种。 本研究的目的也是阐明之间的系统发育关系的凹顶藻属物种的分子分析和评估的分布，通过比较从标本分配到相同的类群从不同的地理区域的分子数据。 物种特征鉴定将侧重于加勒比物种和世界性或泛热带分布的物种。 该研究还将解决Laurencia属成员之间的系统发育关系，其密切相关的属Osmundea和它们的共同寄生虫Janczewsia。 凹顶藻属和紫顶藻属是生态上重要的属，其中包括许多种，由于形态可塑性，其识别非常困难。 拟议的研究将提供洞察力的形态特征用于区分这组藻类中的物种的相关性，以及有助于澄清的有效性的形态/生殖特征用于分离属和亚属之间的Laurencieae。 列入Janczewsia作为一个共同的寄生虫的两个属将提供可能的见解藻类寄生虫-宿主关系的演变，并将通过比较形态学和分子研究相结合的方法进行评估。 将从基因组特定部分（即核和叶绿体基因）的核苷酸序列分析中推断物种的分子特征和属、亚属和物种水平上的系统发育关系。 将通过简约法分析分子数据，并生成系统发育树。

Aponte 9629662 This research is aimed at characterization of selected species of the broadly distributed, species rich and pharmaceutically important red algal genus Laurencia. This study also is aimed at elucidation of phylogenetic relationships among species of Laurencia by molecular analyses and assessment of the distribution of Laurencia species by comparing molecular data obtained from specimens assigned to the same taxa from various geographical regions. Species characterizations will focus on Caribbean species and on species with cosmopolitan or pantropical distributions. The study will also address the phylogenetic relationships between members of the genus Laurencia, its closely related genus Osmundea and their mutual parasite Janczewsia. Laurencia and Osmundea are ecologically important genera that include numerous species whose identification is extremely difficult due to morphological plasticity. The proposed study will provide insight to the relevance of the morphological characters used to distinguish species in this group of algae as well as help to clarify the validity of morphological/reproductive characters used to segregate genera and subgenera among Laurencieae. Inclusion of Janczewsia as a common parasite of both genera will provide possible insights into the evolution of algal parasite-host relationships, and will be assessed by a combined approach of comparative morphology and molecular studies. Molecular characterizations of species and phylogenetic relationships at the level of genus, subgenus and species will be inferred from the analysis of nucleotide sequences from specific portions of the genome, i.e. nuclear and chloroplast genes. Molecular data will be analyzed by parsimony methods and phylogenetic trees will be generated.