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

单子叶植物（包括草、棕榈、兰花和喜荫植物）包括65，000多种开花植物，几乎存在于所有的栖息地，并提供了人类饮食的绝大多数。 一个明确的家谱，为这组将被开发和用于了解广泛的演变单子叶植物在地质时期。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，并用于重建这一群体的进化历史。此外，还将收集活物种和化石物种的表型数据，并对所有数据进行综合分析，以全面了解单子叶植物的进化。由此产生的家谱将为许多开花植物生理学、生态学、植物地理学和基因组学的新研究提供基础。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。 将培养几名博士后研究员，研究生和本科生，并支持四名年轻教师。将为纽约、芝加哥、丹佛和伯克利的知名场馆举办一个关于开花植物进化的博物馆展览，并将在纽约植物园举办一个儿童单子叶植物园展览。 说明单子叶植物多样性和进化的海报将分发给大学，工作人员将在公立高中举行讲座。

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 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.