SG: Diversification within the plant genus Polyspora (Theaceae) in Sri Lanka

斯里兰卡以其多样化和独特的植物群而闻名，近30%的开花植物物种在其他地方找不到。这种植物多样性的大部分集中在岛屿南部的高地上。斯里兰卡的植物群被认为与西高止山脉的植物群有密切的亲缘关系，这两个地区共同构成了公认的全球生物多样性热点。该项目将调查茶的近亲多孢子属（山茶科）植物的物种多样性，并以该植物群为模型，研究斯里兰卡-西高止山脉地区的植物多样性。本研究将厘清斯里兰卡已确认的多孢子虫种类的数量，并绘制其在该地区的分布模式。将使用比较方法来估计斯里兰卡多孢子虫物种在过去何时多样化，它们的分布模式如何随着时间的推移而变化，以及它们的分布模式如何预测未来的变化。该项目将加强来自美国、斯里兰卡和印度的科学家之间的国际合作，并将增加来自美国代表性不足群体的学生对科学的参与。将利用质体和核DNA序列重建多孢子属的种级系统发育，并用于检查斯里兰卡和西高止山脉之间以及整个南亚之间的生物地理关系。鉴定斯里兰卡多孢子虫谱系的姐妹群和分化时间将为斯里兰卡境内的多样化提供一个背景，并解决有关该科属的数量、划分和地理分布的长期问题，这将为该科未来的植物区系和分类学工作提供一个框架。对120种多孢子虫的单核苷酸多态性（SNP）分析将用于对斯里兰卡境内的地理结构进行精细测试。这种系统地理学分析将用于澄清属内的物种限制，并为未来的物种形成研究提供背景。

Sri Lanka is renowned for its diverse and unique flora, with nearly 30% of flowering plant species found nowhere else. Most of this plant diversity is concentrated in the highlands in the south of the island. The flora of Sri Lanka is assumed to have a close affinity to the flora of the Western Ghats, and together these two regions comprise a recognized global biodiversity hotspot. This project will investigate species diversity within the plant genus Polyspora (Theaceae), a relative of tea, and use the group as a model to examine plant diversification within the Sri Lanka-Western Ghats region. This study will clarify the number of recognized species of Polyspora in Sri Lanka and map their patterns of distribution within the region. Comparative methods will be used to estimate when Sri Lankan Polyspora species diversified in the past, how their patterns of distribution have changed through time, and how their patterns of distribution are predicted to change in the future. This project will strengthen international collaborations among researchers from the US, Sri Lanka and India, and will increase participation in science of students from underrepresented groups in the USA. A species level phylogeny of the genus Polyspora using plastid and nuclear DNA sequences will be reconstructed and used to examine biogeographic relationships between both Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats, and within South Asia in general. Identification of the sister group and divergence time of the Sri Lankan Polyspora lineage will provide a context for diversification within Sri Lanka and address longstanding questions on the number, delimitation, and geographic distribution of genera in Thecae that will provide a framework for future floristic and taxonomic work in the family. A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) analysis of 120 Polyspora accessions will be used to provide a fine-scale test of geographic structure within Sri Lanka. This phylogeographic analysis will then be used to clarify species limits within the genus and provide a context for future studies on speciation.