Angiosperm Phylogeny: Evidence From rbcL, 18S rDNA, and atpB

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9707868 SOLTIS The angiosperms (flowering plants) represent the largest and most economically-important assemblage of land plants in the world, there being over 300,000 different species. Diverse angiosperm forms appear in the fossil record a little over 100 million years ago, and many additional species appear to have arisen rapidly following the origin of the assemblage. However, despite extensive effort, our understanding of relationships among angiosperm groups remains far from complete, especially among groups that arose early during angiosperm diversification. The research proposed by Drs. Soltis and Soltis will help clarify phylogenetic relationships among major groupings of angiosperms, and perhaps more importantly, help identify relationships among the most ancient members of the assemblage. The latter will prove especially critical in providing the basis for new interpretations of the patterns and rates of diversification. The work will entail acquisition of DNA sequences from three distinct genes (rbcL, 18S rDNA, and atpB) that will be used to infer relationships among roughly 400 angiosperm species that were selected as representatives of all major groups of angiosperm species. The work ultimately will lead to a new classification of flowering plants that will reflect more accurately both historical and genealogical relationships. The project also will lead to new analytical methods for inferring family trees that involve extremely large data sets for large groups of species.