A Phylogeny of Pinus [Pinaceae] Based on Six Low-Copy Nuclear Genes

俄勒冈州立大学的Aaron Liston博士和美国农业部林业局的Richard Cronn博士获得了一项资助，以研究大约100种松树(松属)之间的进化和遗传关系。松树是北半球分布最广的木本植物属，在南半球广泛种植。因此，松树在世界范围内具有巨大的经济和生态重要性。过去对松树进化关系的研究产生了相互矛盾的结果，任何一项分析都没有包括超过一半的所有物种。为了解决这些问题，Liston和Cronn将使用火炬松研究中出现的基因组数据来识别25个核遗传标记，以筛选整个属的DNA水平变异。这六个最有希望的标记将被用来构建所有可用松树物种进化关系的多基因估计，并确定现有研究之间的冲突来源。还将研究将这些标记转移到其他裸子植物属的系统发育研究中的可能性。松树物种间系统关系的解决将有助于加深对其进化历史的了解，并有助于改进松属的分类。此外，这些结果将为松树生态学和进化生物学的研究提供坚实的基础。通过确定哪些物种的亲缘关系最近，这些结果应该有助于专注于松树物种的遗传和育种的努力。也可以预期，这里开发的遗传标记将在其他裸子植物属的类似研究中有用。两名研究生和两名本科生将由Liston和Cronn指导，并接受植物分子系统学领域的培训。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Aaron Liston at Oregon State University and Dr. Richard Cronn at the USDA Forest Service to investigate evolutionary and genetic relationships among the approximately 100 species of pine trees (the genus Pinus). Pines are the most widespread genus of woody plants native to the Northern Hemisphere, and are widely planted in the Southern Hemisphere. Thus pines are of vast economic and ecological importance worldwide. Past studies of pine evolutionary relationships have produced conflicting results, and no more than half of all species have been included in any single analysis. To address these problems, Liston and Cronn will use genomic data emerging from research on loblolly pine to identify twenty-five nuclear genetic markers for screening DNA-level variation across the genus. The six most promising markers will be used to construct a multi-gene estimate of evolutionary relationships for all available pine species, and to identify the source of conflict among existing studies. The potential for transferring these markers to phylogenetic studies of other gymnosperm genera will also be examined. The resolution of systematic relationships among pine species will result in an enhanced understanding of their evolutionary history, and contribute to an improved classification of the genus. Furthermore, these results will provide a robust foundation for studies of pine ecology and evolutionary biology. By determining which species are most closely related, the results should contribute to efforts focused on the genetics and breeding of pine species. It is also anticipated that the genetic markers developed here will be useful in similar studies of other gymnosperm genera. Two graduate and two undergraduate students will be supervised by Liston and Cronn, and receive training in the field of plant molecular systematics.