International Research Fellow Awards Program: Biosystematics and Ethnobotany of Selected Cucurbitaceae in Yunnan, People's Republic of China

[600346] Marr国际研究员奖励计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并使用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件。该奖项将支持密歇根大学Kendrick L. Marr博士（由Richard I. Ford博士赞助）进行为期24个月的博士后访问，与中国云南昆明植物研究所裴胜基教授合作。这个项目的资金由美中合作项目提供。本项目旨在研究苦瓜（Momordica charantia L.）和冬瓜、丝瓜等其他植物的民族植物学、驯化和遗传变异。西双版纳人从野外、雪田或家庭花园中收获可食用的水果。这些物种属于葫芦科（南瓜科），是中国最重要的新鲜蔬菜和药用植物之一。丝瓜和苦瓜很重要，因为它们有一层厚厚的蜡涂层，可以在炎热的夏季保护它们，并允许它们储存长达一年半。记录作物品种的土著知识不仅对保持遗传多样性很重要，而且因为这种知识鼓励农村地区制定合理的区域发展政策。＊＊＊

9600346 Marr The International Research Fellow Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty- four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions. This award will support a twenty-four month postdoctoral research visit by Dr. Kendrick L. Marr (under the sponsorship of Dr. Richard I. Ford) of the University of Michigan to work with Professor Pei Sheng-Ji at Kunming Institute of Botany in Yunnan, China. Funding for this project is being provided by the U.S.-China Program. The purpose of this project is to investigate the ethnobotany, domestication and genetic variability of Momordica charantia L. (bitter-melon) and various other species such as the wax gourd and the loofa. The edible fruit are harvested from the wild, swidden farms, or home gardens, by the Xishuangbanna people. These species belong to the Cucurbitaceae (Squash family), one of the most important plant families in China for fresh vegetables as well as medicinal plants. The luffa and bitter-melon are important because they have a thick wax coating which protects them during the hot summer months and allows them to be stored for up to a year and a half. Documentation of indigenous knowledge of crop plant varieties is important not only to maintain genetic diversity, but because this knowledge encourages rational regional development policies in rural areas. ***