PEET: Monographic and Phylogenetic Studies of Simple Thalloid Hepatics (Jungermanniopsida, Metzgeriidae)

9977961 Raymond Stotler和Barbara Crandall-Stotler这个项目在加强分类学专业知识的伙伴关系中的两个目标是解决甲科的分类困惑，这是一个通常被称为单叶苔类的植物群，并在此过程中培养新一代肝病方面的熟练专家，即苔类的研究。梅兹杰里亚科是地质上最古老的苔藓植物群，其化石代表可以追溯到大约4亿年前陆地植物殖民的开始。今天，它们在分布上是国际化的，但在热带地区的多样化程度最高。除了在热带生态系统的营养循环中发挥重要作用外，地钱还合成了大量具有药用潜力的生物活性化合物。然而，要挖掘这种潜力，就必须对这些鲜为人知、研究不足的植物的多样性进行清点和分类，并阐明它们的生殖生物学的基本特征。为此，该项目的研究计划包括：对现有标本馆馆藏中的Pelliineae和Pallaviciniineae亚目的形态多样性进行分类调查；对北美和putoRico地区这些亚目的部分分类群的种群结构进行实地调查；对新西兰和塔斯马尼亚进行采集考察；对这些亚目植物内部进行链分化的电子显微镜解剖进行研究；并生成用于Mezgeriidae系统发育分析的核DNA和叶绿体DNA序列。对Pelliineae和Pallaviciniineae的专题性研究是对当前Peet项目的专题性和系统发育研究的扩展，该项目专注于Fossom Broniineae，这是Metzgeriidae的另一个基本亚目。在专著的制作过程中，命名模式标本将根据它们的原型进行定位和验证，将与世界各地的所有主要草本植物安排标本借阅，并将使用扫描电子显微镜和光学显微镜对定量和定性特征的组合进行评估。来自变异模式的形态计量学分析、实地研究、分子采样和解剖学研究的其他数据将被用于完善物种定义。此外，还将产生完整的甲科的强大的分子系统学。通过系统学的正式课程、研讨会、讲习班和参与项目研究，至少三名博士生和一名博士后研究员将接受现代专著方面的培训。研究责任将根据分类群而不是技术来划分，因此每个受训者都将学习应用于专著的所有方法。每年还将为两名本科生提供研究培训机会。将在项目的所有阶段使用计算机辅助的数据存储和检索、图像处理、数据分析和信息传播方法，并通过万维网以电子方式获取项目成果。电子产品将包括一个图文并茂的命名表、网上可访问的标本和文献数据库以及互动钥匙。完成的专著将被存档在CD-ROM光盘上。

9977961Raymond Stotler and Barbara Crandall-Stotler The two goals of this project in the Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy are toresolve the taxonomic perplexities of the Metzgeriidae, a plant group commonly referred to as the simple thalloid liverworts, and in the process to train a new generation of skilled experts in hepaticology, i. e., thestudy of liverworts. The Metzgeriidae are the geologically oldest group of bryophytes, with fossil representatives dating back to the beginning of terrestrial plant colonization, about 400 million years ago. Today, they are cosmopolitan in distribution but with their greatest diversification in the tropics. In addition to playing a major role in the nutrient cycles of tropical ecosystems, liverworts synthesize a myriad of biologically active compounds that have pharmaceutical potential. Tapping this potential,however, necessitates that the diversity of these poorly known, understudied plants be inventoried and classified and that fundamental features of their reproductive biology be elucidated. To this end, the research plan of this project includes the following: a taxonomic survey of the morphological diversity of the suborders Pelliineae and Pallaviciniineae, represented in existing herbarium collections; field investigations of population structure of select taxa of these suborders in North America and PuertoRico; a collecting expedition to New Zealand and Tasmania; electron-microscopic anatomical studies of conducting strand differentiation within plants of these suborders; and the generation of nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequences for phylogenetic analyses of the Metzgeriidae. Monographic studies of the Pelliineae and Pallaviciniineae are an expansion of the monographic and phylogenetic studies of a current PEET project focused on the Fossombroniineae, another basal suborder of the Metzgeriidae. In the production of the monograph, nomenclatural type specimens will be located and verified, based on their protologues, specimen loans will be arranged with all major herbaria, worldwide, and a combination of quantitative and qualitative characters will be assessed, using both SEM and optical photomicroscopy. Additional data from morphometric analyses of variation patterns, field studies, molecular sampling and anatomical studies will then be used to refine species definition. In addition, a robust molecular phylogeny of the entire Metzgeriidae will be produced. Through a combination of formal courses in systematics, seminars, workshops, and involvement in project research, a minimum of three doctoral students and one postdoctoral fellow will be trained in modern monography. Research responsibilities will be partitioned according to taxa, rather than technique, so each trainee will learn all of the methods being applied to the monograph. Research training opportunities will also be provided for two undergraduate students per year. Computer-assisted methods of data storage and retrieval, image processing, data analysis and information dissemination will be used at all stages in the project, with electronic access to project results provided through the World Wide Web. Electronic products will include an illustrated nomenclator, web-accessible specimen and literature databases, and interactive keys. The completed monographs will be archived on CD-ROM disks.