Phylogenetic Analysis of Fagaceae: A Study of the Pattern and Process of Woody Plant Diversification

开花植物科壳斗科（Fagaceae）。1000种，包括山毛榉、橡树和栗子）在北方几个广泛分布的生态系统中起着重要的生态作用。 杜克大学的研究人员Paul Manos和Sang-Hun Oh建议对木本物种的这种显着多样性进行彻底的进化调查。 理想情况下，研究物种多样化或物种形成的模式和过程需要对物种关系进行可靠的估计，准确了解物种数量，以及丰富的化石记录。 在橡树科（壳斗科）中，这些条件几乎已经到位，使其成为拟议研究的首要群体。 迄今为止完成的研究建立了一个强大的平台，使用几个DNA区域，特别是75个物种的替代低拷贝核基因来产生壳斗科的谱系。 由此产生的系谱将被用来解决长期存在的经典问题，生殖结构和性状的进化，并独立地评估传统上描述的属。 第二个目标需要使用化石来校准家族的进化历史。 在这个进化编年史中，与物种形成率增加有关的关键创新或关键因素的假设将使用测试物种丰富度变化的既定方法进行测试。 系统发育多样性或DNA变异量的测量也将在各组之间进行比较，以测试可能与多样化速度变化相关的显著差异。 拟议的研究旨在将宏观进化分析的几个方面联系起来，以明确说明这种生态上重要的多样化。 虽然壳斗科的研究很好，这里提出的合成还没有尝试过，其影响超出了系统生物学和新兴的调查多样化的原因及其后果的分子和系谱多样性。 拟议的研究将在几个层面上整合培训。吴相勋博士将在杜克大学进行一系列的进化活动，并从中受益。 一名研究生将接受拟议方法的培训，研究团队将包括两名本科生，他们将通过NSF REU网站计划资助的杜克暑期项目招募。拟议的外联活动包括在杜克建立一个专门介绍壳斗科研究的网站，这将成为扩大对生命之树项目的贡献的基础。

The flowering plant family Fagaceae (ca. 1000 species, including the beeches, oaks, and chestnuts) plays a major ecological role in several broadly distributed ecosystems of the Northern Hemisphere. Duke University researchers Paul Manos and Sang-Hun Oh propose to conduct a thorough evolutionary investigation of this remarkable diversification of woody species. Ideally, the study of the pattern and process of species diversification or speciation requires a robust estimate of species relationships, accurate knowledge of species numbers, and a rich fossil record. In the oak family (Fagaceae), these conditions are nearly in place, making it a premier group for the research proposed. Research completed to date establishes a robust platform to produce a genealogy of Fagaceae using several DNA regions, specifically alternative low-copy nuclear genes across 75 species. The resulting genealogy will be used to address long-standing classical questions regarding the evolution of reproductive structures and traits, and independently to assess traditionally described genera. A second goal requires the use of fossils to calibrate the evolutionary history of the family. Within this chronicle of evolution, hypotheses of key innovation or critical factors linked to increases in the speciation rate, will be tested using established methods that test for shifts in species richness. Measures of phylogenetic diversity or the amount of DNA variation also will be compared among groups to test for significant differences that may correlate with shifts in the rate of diversification. The proposed research aims to link several aspects of macroevolutionary analysis to produce an explicit account of this ecologically significant diversification. While the family Fagaceae is well-studied, the synthesis proposed here has not been attempted before, and its implications reach beyond systematic biology and into emerging investigations of the causes of diversification and its consequences to molecular and genealogical diversity. The proposed research will integrate training at several levels. Dr. Sang-Hun Oh will train and benefit from a range of evolutionary activities present at Duke University. A graduate student will receive training in the methods proposed, and the research team will include two undergraduate students to be recruited through a Duke summer program funded through the NSF REU-Sites program. Proposed outreach activities include the development of a website dedicated to Fagaceae research at Duke, which will form the basis for an expanded contribution to the Tree of Life Project.