DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Systematics of the Neotropical Plant Genus Alloplectus (Gesneriaceae)

[20206512] herendeen和Clark异叶蕨属是安第斯山脉西北部的一种常见灌木，它的花可以被看作是花卉学家的Gloxinia的颠倒版本。同种异体植物和花商的Gloxinia属同一类群，但在某些种类的同种异体植物中，花是倒立的。本项目将研究同种植物及苦苣苔科相关成员的多样化模式，以及该组花再生的进化。苦苣苔科的新热带成员存在问题，因为形态学细节记录很少，密切相关的分类群表现出广泛的花形式，传粉者知之甚少，分子系统发育没有足够的物种样本来阐明广泛的形态学变化。新热带植物属中最不为人所知的类群之一是异声属。该项目将产生系统发育假说，以测试同类进化的竞争理论，解决Episcieae部落的系统发育关系，并完成属的分类修订。将在玻利维亚和巴拿马进行实地考察，研究这些植物及其传粉媒介，并收集材料供实验室和植物标本室研究。将参观欧洲植物标本馆，研究历史上和最近的植物收藏。收集核ITS区和叶绿体trnL内含子和间隔子的分子序列数据。形态学特征将被研究和评分用于系统发育分析。尽管热带生态系统正吸引着对了解和管理地球生物资源感兴趣的生物学家和自然资源保护主义者越来越多的关注，但关于构成这些生态系统的植物和其他生物的多样性，人们还有很多不了解的地方。例如，异声猿人至少有五种是科学上的新物种，这一群体的许多成员在地理上受到限制，生活在受到伐木和农业转型威胁的森林中。该项目的结果将提供一个强有力的系统发育假说和数据，可用于解决关于这一鲜为人知的热带植物群的植物多样性和保护、形态进化和授粉生物学等问题。

0206512Herendeen and Clark The genus Alloplectus, a common shrub from the northwestern Andes, has flowers that may be viewed as an upside down version of those of the Florists' Gloxinia. Alloplectus and the Florists' Gloxinia both belong to the same group, but the flowers are resupinate (inverted) in some species of Alloplectus. This project will look at the pattern of diversification in Alloplectus and related members of the family Gesneriaceae and the evolution of flower resupination in this group. The Neotropical members of Gesneriaceae are problematic because morphological details are poorly documented, closely related taxa exhibit a wide range of flower forms, pollinators are poorly known, and molecular phylogenies have insufficient species sampling to clarify the wide range of morphological variation. One of the least understood groups of Neotropical gesneriads is the genus Alloplectus. This project will generate phylogenetic hypotheses to test competing theories of gesneriad evolution, to resolve phylogenetic relationships within the tribe Episcieae, and to complete a taxonomic revision of the genus. Field expeditions will be carried out in Bolivia and Panama to study the plants and their pollinators and collect material for study in the laboratory and herbarium. Visits to European herbaria will be conducted to study historical and recent plant collections. Molecular sequence data will be collected for the nuclear ITS region and the chloroplast trnL intron and spacer. Morphological characters will be studied and scored for phylogenetic analyses. Although tropical ecosystems are attracting increasing attention from biologists and conservationists interested in understanding and managing the earth's biological resources, there is much that is not understood about the diversity of plants and other organisms that make up these ecosystems. For example, there are at least five species of Alloplectus that are new to science and many members of this group are geographically restricted and live in forests that are threatened by logging and agricultural conversion. Results from this project will provide a robust phylogenetic hypothesis and data that may be used to address questions about plant diversity and conservation, morphological evolution, and pollination biology in this poorly known group of tropical plants.