The evolution of floral design and display in animal-pollinated plants

在动物传粉的植物中，花决定了交配机会，因为传粉者在花和植物之间传递雄性配子（花粉）。我对花进化的研究考虑了花的设计，单个花的特征，以及花的展示，所有花在植物上的综合效果。首先，我将研究薄荷科（Phlox family）花卉展示的进化。叶绿体序列数据将完善我早期的Polemonium系统发育。然后，我将比较Polemonium物种之间的花大小、花数量和花序结构的变化，以及相关属内的系统发育问题。很少有研究考察了物种间花展示的进化变化，而且这些研究都没有考虑到植物的大小或生长季节，这两个因素影响着开花资源的可用性。其次，我将评估传粉媒介（飞蛾和蜂鸟）的变化如何影响波利蒙花设计的选择。我将把植物的人工种群分别暴露给每一种传粉媒介，并研究花性状和适应性之间的关系，即种子的结实率和繁殖成功率。配种成功将使用AFLP的遗传指纹来测量，扩增的片段长度多态性。第三，我将研究花型设计、传粉者身份和奖励花的周围群落如何影响两种女士鞋兰（cypedium）的繁殖成功率和杂交。引起杂交率变化的机制在大多数物种中尚不清楚，并且尚未在塞浦路斯中进行研究。在塞浦路斯，在像陷阱一样的花中，传粉者进入和退出路线的大小可能决定哪些昆虫是有效的传粉者，而花卉群落可能影响哪些昆虫存在。这些研究目标将有助于我了解花展示的进化，以及传粉媒介的变化如何影响花设计的选择，以及物种之间的生殖隔离。

Flowers determine mating opportunities in animal-pollinated plants because pollinators transport male gametes (pollen) between flowers and plants. My research on floral evolution considers floral design, the characteristics of individual flowers, and floral display, the combined effects of all flowers displayed on a plant. First, I will investigate the evolution of floral display within the Polemoniaceae (Phlox family). Chloroplast sequence data will refine my earlier phylogeny of Polemonium. I will then compare changes in flower size, flower number, and inflorescence architecture among Polemonium species and within related genera with well-resolved phylogenies. Few studies have examined evolutionary changes in floral display among species, and none of these have considered plant size or growing season, two factors that affect the resources available for flowering. Second, I will assess how variation in pollinators (hawkmoth and hummingbirds) affects selection on floral design in Polemonium brandegei. I will expose artificial populations of plants to each pollinator separately, and examine relationships between floral traits and fitness, i.e., seed set and siring success. Siring success will be measured using genetic fingerprints estimated with AFLP's, amplified fragment length polymorphisms. Third, I will study how floral design, pollinator identity, and the surrounding community of rewarding flowers affect reproductive successs and hybridization between two species of lady's slipper orchid, Cypripedium. The mechanisms causing variation in hybridization rates are not well understood for most species, and have not been investigated in Cypripedium. In Cypripedium, dimensions of pollinator entry and exit routes in the trap-like flowers may determine which insects are effective pollinators, and the floral community likely affects which insects are present. These research objectives will contribute to my long term goals of understanding the evolution of floral display, and how variation in pollinators affects selection on floral design, and reproductive isolation between species.