Collaborative Research: Phylogeny and Floral Evolution of Malpighiaceae

合作研究：金虎尾科的系统发育和花进化

• 批准号: 1355064
• 负责人: Charles Davis
• 金额: $ 26.21万
• 依托单位: Harvard University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-04-01 至 2017-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1355064&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Phylogeny; Floral; Evolution

Malpighiaceae is a large, ancestrally New World flowering plant family that has dispersed independently to the Old World on seven separate occasions during the past ~60 Myr. The distinctive floral morphology of New World species includes oil glands, which provide pollinators with rewards other than pollen or nectar. The flowers that produce nutrient oils also have a unique bilateral floral symmetry that has been conserved for millions of years via interactions with specialist oil-bee pollinators. All Old World species, in contrast, have regular flowers with radial symmetry. This project will investigate diversification in plant-pollinator mutualism within the family by producing a morphological and molecular phylogeny of ~1300 Malpighiaceae species. In addition, the researchers will investigate the early genetic and developmental basis of bilateral symmetry in the New World species and establish the genetic and developmental basis for the convergent evolution of regular flower phenotypes in the Old World species. This study of this large and ecologically important group of tropical plants will serve as a model to understand whether similar genetic and developmental mechanisms are driving the parallel evolution of flower shape. The project will train a post-doctoral researcher, undergraduate and graduate students, including individuals from under-represented groups. Research results will be disseminated through an online monograph on the Malphigiaceae, and through targeted short-courses for elementary and high school students within Cambridge, MA.

木犀科是一个大型的、起源于新大陆的开花植物家族，在过去的60年里，它曾七次独立地散布到东半球。新大陆物种独特的花形态包括油腺，它为传粉者提供花粉或花蜜以外的奖励。产生营养油的花朵还具有独特的双边花朵对称性，这种对称性通过与专业的油蜂传粉者的互动而保存了数百万年。相比之下，东半球的所有物种都有规则的径向对称的花。本项目将通过制作约1300种锦葵科植物的形态和分子系统发育图，研究该科植物-传粉者互惠关系的多样性。此外，研究人员还将研究新大陆物种双边对称性的早期遗传和发育基础，并为东半球物种中规则花型的趋同进化奠定遗传和发育基础。这项对这一大群具有生态重要性的热带植物的研究将作为一个模型，以了解类似的遗传和发育机制是否正在推动花形的平行进化。该项目将培训一名博士后研究员、本科生和研究生，包括来自代表性不足群体的个人。研究成果将通过在线专著和针对马萨诸塞州剑桥市小学生和高中生的短期课程进行传播。