CAA: Molecular Systematic Studies of Selected Genera in the Red Algal Family Rhodomelaceae

阿蓬特9629662这项研究旨在确定分布广泛、物种丰富、具有重要药用价值的红藻属劳伦西亚的选定物种的特征。本研究还旨在通过分子分析阐明Laurencia种之间的系统发育关系，并通过比较不同地理区域归入同一分类群的标本获得的分子数据来评估Laurencia种的分布。物种特征将侧重于加勒比物种和具有世界性或泛热带分布的物种。这项研究还将探讨Laurencia属及其近缘属Osmundea及其相互寄生的Janczewsia成员之间的系统发育关系。Laurencia和Osmundea是生态上重要的属，包括许多种，由于形态可塑性，这些种的鉴定非常困难。拟议的研究将有助于深入了解用于区分这类藻类物种的形态特征的相关性，并有助于澄清用于区分劳伦西亚科的属和亚属的形态/生殖特征的有效性。将Janczewsia列为两个属的一种常见寄生虫将为了解藻类寄生虫-宿主关系的演变提供可能，并将通过比较形态学和分子研究相结合的方法进行评估。从基因组的特定部分，即核基因和叶绿体基因的核苷酸序列分析，将推断物种的分子特征和属、亚属和物种水平上的系统发育关系。分子数据将用简约方法进行分析，并将生成系统发育树。

Aponte 9629662 This research is aimed at characterization of selected species of the broadly distributed, species rich and pharmaceutically important red algal genus Laurencia. This study also is aimed at elucidation of phylogenetic relationships among species of Laurencia by molecular analyses and assessment of the distribution of Laurencia species by comparing molecular data obtained from specimens assigned to the same taxa from various geographical regions. Species characterizations will focus on Caribbean species and on species with cosmopolitan or pantropical distributions. The study will also address the phylogenetic relationships between members of the genus Laurencia, its closely related genus Osmundea and their mutual parasite Janczewsia. Laurencia and Osmundea are ecologically important genera that include numerous species whose identification is extremely difficult due to morphological plasticity. The proposed study will provide insight to the relevance of the morphological characters used to distinguish species in this group of algae as well as help to clarify the validity of morphological/reproductive characters used to segregate genera and subgenera among Laurencieae. Inclusion of Janczewsia as a common parasite of both genera will provide possible insights into the evolution of algal parasite-host relationships, and will be assessed by a combined approach of comparative morphology and molecular studies. Molecular characterizations of species and phylogenetic relationships at the level of genus, subgenus and species will be inferred from the analysis of nucleotide sequences from specific portions of the genome, i.e. nuclear and chloroplast genes. Molecular data will be analyzed by parsimony methods and phylogenetic trees will be generated.