DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Molecular Phylogeny of the Ericaceae using RNA Polymerase II

通过比较分析细胞核和细胞器核糖体DNA序列，重建植物群之间的历史（OphthalogeneticO）关系，是系统生物学的一个组成部分。 研究人员越来越认识到需要从代表独立遗传位点的几个不同DNA序列中获得数据，因为从任何单个基因推断的同源性可能无法准确地恢复所研究的生物体之间的关系。 然而，已知对这些研究有用且研究人员可获得的基因数量（快速且廉价地从广泛的生物体中获得）仍然非常少。 为了扩大可用于较低分类学水平的分子系统学分析的核基因库，艾米丹顿在本杰明·霍尔的监督下，将评估RNA聚合酶II（RPB）基因内序列的系统发育效用。 研究人员将首先确定RPB基因序列是否如预期的那样可用于在家族水平及以下的开花植物分类群的系统发育评估;他们将比较从这些序列构建的系统发育与来自其他数据的植物家族杜鹃花科（包括杜鹃花，杜鹃花和蓝莓）的系统发育。 如果这些结果证实了预测，那么丹顿和霍尔将使用RPB基因序列来研究大型园艺上有价值的杜鹃花属物种之间复杂且知之甚少的系统发育关系。

9623643 HALL Reconstruction of the historical (OphylogeneticO) relationships among plant groups, through comparative analysis of nuclear and organellar ribosomal DNA sequences, is an integral part of systematic biology. Researchers increasingly recognize the need to obtain data from several different DNA sequences, representing independent genetic loci, because a phylogeny inferred from any single gene may not accurately recover the relationships among the organisms under investigation. However, the number of genes known to be both useful for these investigations and accessible to researchers (quickly and inexpensively obtainable from a wide range of organisms) is still very small. In an effort to expand the pool of nuclear genes available for molecular systematic analyses at lower taxonomic levels, Amy Denton, under the supervision of Benjamin Hall, will evaluate the phylogenetic utility of sequences within the RNA polymerase II (RPB) gene. The researchers will first determine if, as expected, RPB gene sequences are useful for phylogenetic assessments of flowering plant taxa at the family level and below; they will compare phylogenies constructed from these sequences to phylogenies of the plant family Ericaceae (which includes rhododendrons, azaleas and blueberries) derived from other data. If these results confirm predictions, Denton and Hall will then use RPB gene sequences to investigate the complex, and poorly understood, phylogenetic relationships among species of the large, horticulturally valuable genus Rhododendron.