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

在动物授粉的植物中，花决定了交配的机会，因为传粉者在花和植物之间运输雄配子(花粉)。我对花卉进化的研究考虑了花卉设计，单个花的特征，以及花展示，所有花展示在一株植物上的综合效果。首先，我将调查蜜环草科(Phlox科)内花卉展示的进化。叶绿体序列数据将完善我早期的Polemonium系统发育。然后，我将比较在Polemonum种之间和相关属内的花大小、花数和花序结构的变化，并与已很好解决的系统发育进行比较。很少有研究考察不同物种之间花卉展示的进化变化，这些研究中没有一项考虑植物大小或生长季节，这两个因素会影响可供开花的资源。其次，我将评估传粉者(天蛾和蜂鸟)的变异如何影响对白背飞蛾花卉设计的选择。我将把人工植物种群分别暴露给每个传粉者，并检查花卉特征和适合度之间的关系，即结实和繁殖成功。杂交成功率将使用AFLP扩增片段长度多态估计的遗传指纹来衡量。第三，我将研究花卉设计、传粉者身份和周围奖励花朵的群落如何影响两种淑女拖鞋兰花间的繁殖成功和杂交。造成杂交率差异的机制对于大多数物种来说并不是很清楚，在塞浦路斯中也没有被研究过。在塞浦路斯，在陷阱状的花中，传粉者进出路线的大小可能决定哪些昆虫是有效的传粉者，而花的群落可能会影响哪些昆虫的存在。这些研究目标将有助于我的长期目标，了解花卉展示的演变，以及传粉者的变异如何影响花卉设计的选择，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.