Collaborative Research: From Acorus to Zingiber - Assembling the Phylogeny of the Monocots

单子叶植物（包括禾本科植物、棕榈树、兰花和花木兰等）包括65000多种开花植物，几乎出现在所有的栖息地，并为人类提供了绝大多数的食物。这一群体的一个确定的家谱将被开发出来，并用于了解单子科植物在地质时期的大范围进化。对601个物种的23个基因、175个物种的全叶绿体基因组和50个物种的所有表达基因进行测序，用于重建该类群的进化史。此外，将收集现存和化石物种的表型数据，并对所有数据进行综合分析，以提供对单子叶植物进化的全面了解。由此产生的家谱将为开花植物生理学、生态学、生物地理学和基因组学的许多新研究提供基础。所有数据和结果的网络访问将提供给研究人员和K-12教师和学生。将培训几名博士后、研究生和本科生（重点是女性和少数民族），并支持四名年轻教师。将在纽约、芝加哥、丹佛和伯克利等著名场所举办一个关于开花植物进化的博物馆展览，并在纽约植物园举办一个儿童单株植物花园展览。说明单株植物多样性和进化的海报将分发到大学，工作人员将在公立高中进行讲座。

Monocots (including such groups as grasses, palms, orchids, and philodendrons) include more than 65,000 species of flowering plants, occur in almost all habitats, and provide the great majority of the human diet. A definitive family tree for this group will be developed and used to understand the broad-scale evolution of monocots over geologic time. A total of 23 genes in 601 species, whole chloroplast genomes in 175 species, and all genes expressed in 50 species will be sequenced and used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of this group. Additionally, phenotypic data from living and fossil species will be collected, and all data will be analyzed integratively to provide a comprehensive understanding of monocot evolution.The resulting family tree will provide the foundation for many new studies in physiology, ecology, biogeography, and genomics of flowering plants. Web access to all data and results will be provided to researchers and K-12 teachers and students. Several post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduates (with a focus on women and minorities) will be trained, and four young faculty will be supported. A museum exhibit on the evolution of flowering plants will be produced for high-profile venues in New York, Chicago, Denver, and Berkeley, and a children's monocot garden exhibit will be developed at the New York Botanical Garden. Posters illustrating monocot diversity and evolution will be distributed to colleges, and staff will give talks at public high schools.