Collaborative Research: Resolving the phylogeny of North American milkweeds through the application of massively parallel sequencing technology

乳草（乳草属）是一种美丽的植物，因其吸引蝴蝶的能力而闻名于世。北美有135种乳草，它们都是相当迅速地起源的。该项目将使用基因组测序技术来调查物种之间的关系。DNA序列将从每个物种的两个或两个以上样本的完整叶绿体基因组和10个核基因中获得。目标是实现一个大的，迅速辐射属的物种水平的系统发育。解决马利筋种间的系统关系将有助于改进马利筋属的分类。这些结果将为马利筋植物多样性、传粉生物学和生物地理学的研究提供坚实的基础。乳草长期以来一直是植物防御食草动物进化的模型系统，这项研究的结果将有助于更好地理解植物如何与害虫共同进化。这里开发的方法在成本、时间和精力上的节省超过了以前在比较基因组学中取得的任何成果，并将直接适用于动物、真菌和植物的系统发育、种群基因组和生态基因组研究。一名博士后助理和三名本科生将在2010年和2011年的年度植物学会议上接受培训，并举办两次旨在向植物系统学家介绍基因组测序方法的研讨会。

Milkweeds (the genus Asclepias) are beautiful plants that are well known and commonly planted for their ability to attract butterflies. There are 135 species of milkweed in North America that have all originated fairly rapidly. This project will use genomic sequencing technology to investigate how the species are related to each other. DNA sequences will be obtained from complete chloroplast genomes and 10 nuclear genes from two or more samples of each species. The goal is to achieve a species level phylogeny of a large, rapidly radiating genus.The resolution of systematic relationships among milkweed species will help to improve the classification of the genus. Furthermore, these results will provide a robust foundation for studies of milkweed floral diversity, pollination biology and biogeography. Milkweeds have long served as a model system for the evolution of plant defenses against herbivory, and results from this research will contribute to a better understanding of how plants co-evolve with their pests. The methods developed here achieve a savings in cost, time, and effort beyond any previously attained in comparative genomics, and will be directly applicable to phylogenetic, population genomic and ecological genomic studies of animals, fungi and plants. A post-doctoral associate and three undergraduate students will be trained, and two workshops designed to introduce plant systematists to genomic sequencing approaches will be conducted at the annual Botany meetings in 2010 and 2011.