Phylogeny and the evolution of succulence in the Portulacineae (Caryophyllales)

马齿苋亚科（石竹目）的系统发育和肉质进化

• 批准号: 1026611
• 负责人: Erika Edwards
• 金额: $ 53.49万
• 依托单位: Brown University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-08-01 至 2014-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1026611&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Phylogeny; evolution; succulence; Portulacineae; Caryophyllales

Many plants that inhabit the arid regions of the world commonly survive by long-term storage of water in various parts of the plants. These plants are typically described as 'succulent'. Everyone knows a succulent plant when they see one, and their bizarre forms have made them popular with horticulturists and collectors. In spite of their ubiquity, scientists know very little about how extreme succulence has evolved in plants. In this project, the evolution of succulence will be investigated in a diverse lineage of ~2,000 flowering plants that include the cacti. Molecular data will be collected from ~500 species to reconstruct evolutionary relationships within the group. 'Succulence' will be characterized in quantitative terms using a newly devised measurement. Within this new framework a series of hypotheses will be tested regarding how and why succulence has evolved multiple times in plants. The project will provide novel insights into the mechanisms that have promoted drought tolerance in plants, which may help predict responses of different plant lineages to future climate change. The project will provide extensive training opportunities for post-doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate scholars, including female and minority students. The project also includes a significant public outreach effort where the PI and students will create a series of short animated films about plant evolution. These films will be designed for individuals with a high-school level biology background, and will be broadcast on the extremely popular website 'creaturecast.org'.

许多生长在世界干旱地区的植物通常通过在植物的各个部分长期储存水分而生存。这些植物通常被描述为“肉质”。每个人都知道一个多肉植物，当他们看到一个，他们的奇异形式使他们受到园艺家和收藏家的欢迎。尽管它们无处不在，但科学家们对植物如何进化出极端的肉质知之甚少。在这个项目中，肉质植物的进化将在包括仙人掌在内的约2,000种开花植物的不同谱系中进行研究。将从约500个物种中收集分子数据，以重建组内的进化关系。“肉质”将使用新设计的测量方法进行定量分析。在这个新的框架内，一系列关于多肉植物如何以及为什么在植物中多次进化的假设将被测试。该项目将为促进植物耐旱性的机制提供新的见解，这可能有助于预测不同植物谱系对未来气候变化的反应。 该项目将为博士后、研究生和本科生学者，包括女学生和少数民族学生提供广泛的培训机会。该项目还包括一个重要的公共宣传工作，PI和学生将创作一系列关于植物进化的动画短片。这些影片将为具有高中生物学背景的个人设计，并将在非常受欢迎的网站“creaturecast.org”上播放。