DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Phylogeny and evolution of the Brassica crops and wild relatives (tribe Brassiceae, Brassicaceae): morphological diversification and homoplasy

几千年来，人类一直将芸苔属植物作为食物、能量和药物的来源。在野生和驯化的芸苔属植物中，植物的结构、叶的形状、花和果实的结构都是独立地、多次地进化的。人们对这些重要而多样的植物群之间的关系知之甚少。将有关遗传关系的知识与形态数据相结合，将有助于破译进化和植物驯化的动力学。本研究的研究目标是：(1)了解芸苔属作物及其野生近缘种之间的进化关系(2)研究形态进化(3)将形态进化与基因分子变异联系起来。本文提出的方法提供了一种新的、廉价的方法来同时对多个基因进行测序，同时为了解植物发育提供了一种创新的方法。研究生和本科生将接受这里开发的方法的培训，包括为科学界提供的在线资源。一个今晚?利用大一新生的实验室？学生将熟悉杂货店里的甘蓝（卷心菜、西兰花、花椰菜、羽衣甘蓝等）。计划通过哥伦比亚城市农业中心（CCAU）向公众推广。

Humans have used Brassicas for thousands of years as a source of food, energy and medical cures. Plant architecture, leaf form, and flower and fruit structure have evolved independently and multiple times in wild and domesticated Brassicas. Little is known about how these important and diverse groups of plants are related to each other. Integrating the knowledge about genetic relationships with morphological data will help to decipher the dynamics of evolution and plant domestication. The research goals for this study are to: (1) Understand the evolutionary relationships among Brassica crops and wild relatives(2) Examine the evolution of morphology(3) Relate morphological evolution with gene molecular variationThe proposed methods offer new and inexpensive ways to sequence multiple genes at once while simultaneously providing an innovative way to understand plant development. Graduate and undergraduates students will be trained on the methods developed here, including an online resource for the scientific community. An ?evo-devo? lab that takes advantage of college freshman?s familiarity with the grocery store Brassica oleracea (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, etc.) will be implemented. Outreach to the public through the Columbia Center of Urban Agriculture (CCAU) is planned.