International Research Fellowship Program: Reproductive Morphology and Anatomy, and Molecular Phylogeny of the Aquifoliales

国际研究奖学金项目使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9至24个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持Melanie Schori博士与Paula Rudall博士在英国邱园皇家植物园开展为期11个月的研究。生殖形态、解剖学和发育为了解植物的属间关系以及主要谱系之间的关系提供了见解。水合叶目最近被证明是在菊石目、菊石目和菊石目的基础上。水杨花包含五个科，包括冬青树，某些成员表现出不寻常的花和果实多样性。每个属的代表正在被检查，以评估在花胚胎学，发育和果实解剖的差异。生殖性状正被映射到一个三基因系统发育，因此性状可以在系统发育的背景下进行检查，以确定性状极性和进化模式。DNA数据极大地改变了目前对植物关系的理解，但分子数据并不总是足以解决更精细尺度的关系。从物种鉴定和保护到植物育种，了解植物之间的关系是至关重要的。结构和发育，特别是生殖特征，往往是保守的，并提供有关进化模式的宝贵信息。然而，大多数植物的生殖解剖学和发育尚未得到研究。研究人员正在回归解剖学研究，以回答有关人际关系的问题。由该项目资助的研究将回答有关冬青树及其近亲之间的关系和独特的花朵和果实类型的问题。此外，它的宝贵数据将用于研究向日葵科（菊科）和胡萝卜科（Apiaceae）等相关经济重要类群的花和果实多样性和进化。

The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support an eleven-month research fellowship by Dr. Melanie Schori to work with Dr. Paula Rudall at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew in the United Kingdom. Reproductive morphology, anatomy, and development provide insights into relationships among genera as well as among major lineages of plants. The order Aquifoliales has recently been shown to be basal to Asterales, Apiales, and Dipsacales. Aquifoliales contains five families, including the hollies, and certain members exhibit unusual floral and fruiting diversity. Representatives of each genus are being examined to assess differences in floral embryology, development, and fruit anatomy. Reproductive characters are being mapped onto a three-gene phylogeny so characters can be examined in a phylogenetic context to determine character polarities and patterns of evolution within the Aquifoliales. DNA data have significantly changed the current understanding of plant relationships, but molecular data are not always sufficient to resolve finer-scale relationships. Understanding relationships is crucial for applications from species identification and conservation to plant breeding. Structure and development, especially of reproductive features, tend to be conserved and provide valuable information about patterns of evolution. However, the reproductive anatomy and development of most plants have not been studied. Researchers are returning to anatomical studies to answer questions about relationships. The research funded by this project will answer questions about relationships and unique flower and fruit types in the hollies and their relatives. In addition, its valuable data will be used by researchers studying flower and fruit diversity and evolution in related economically important groups like the sunflower family (Asteraceae) and the carrot family (Apiaceae).