Dissertation Research: Systematic Study of Senecio sect. Mulgedifolii (Compositae)

研究生何塞·维拉塞纳在兰乔圣安娜植物园的汤姆·埃利亚斯博士的指导下，正在研究墨西哥和危地马拉的千里光属物种，这是一种鲜为人知的热带山地向日葵亲缘植物。他计划对形态学特征、染色体组成和叶绿体DNA变异分析进行广泛的调查。目标包括评价形态特征，为物种鉴定提供稳定、可靠的指南;绘制中美洲估计约15个物种的地理分布图;推断这些物种之间以及与千里光属密切相关的群体之间的进化关系。Villasenor发表了一些关于墨西哥植物资源的论文，并在该国的几个地区进行了实地考察。他对植物生物多样性的研究采取了广泛的方法，包括传统的形态学调查和遗传和基因组变异的实验室分析，这将增加对美洲热带植物资源的了解，反过来，这项研究将有助于培养下一代植物科学家。

Graduate student Jose Villasenor under the guidance of Dr. Tom Elias of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden is studying the Mexican and Guatemalan species of Senecio section Mulgedifolii, a poorly known group of tropical montane sunflower relatives. He plans a broad survey of features of morphology, chromosome composition, and analysis of variation in chloroplast DNA. The goals include evaluation of morphological characters that provide stable, reliable guides to the identification of species; mapping of the geographic distributions of the estimated 15 or so species throughout Mesoamerica; and inference of the evolutionary relationships among these species and with closely related groups of Senecio. Villasenor has published a number of papers on the plant resources of Mexico, and has conducted field work in several regions of the country. The broad approach he is taking to the study of plant biodiversity, encompassing both traditional morphological investigation and laboratory analysis of genetic and genomic variation, will bring increased understanding of tropical plant resources in the Americas, and in turn the research will contribute to training of the next generation of plant scientists.