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

马利筋(Asclepias属)是一种美丽的植物，因其吸引蝴蝶的能力而广为人知。北美有135种马利筋，它们都起源得相当快。这个项目将使用基因组测序技术来调查这些物种是如何相互关联的。DNA序列将从每个物种的两个或更多样本的完整叶绿体基因组和10个核基因中获得。其目标是实现一个大的、快速辐射的基因组的物种水平的系统发育。解决乳草物种之间的系统关系将有助于改进该属的分类。此外，这些结果将为乳草区系多样性、传粉生物学和生物地理学的研究提供坚实的基础。长期以来，乳草一直是植物防御草食性进化的模式系统，这项研究的结果将有助于更好地理解植物如何与它们的害虫共同进化。这些方法比以往的比较基因组学方法节省了成本、时间和精力，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。将对一名博士后助理和三名本科生进行培训，并将在2010年和2011年的植物学年会上举办两个旨在向植物系统学家介绍基因组测序方法的讲习班。

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.