Molecular Systematics of the Verbenaceae

马鞭草科（马鞭草科）是新大陆植物群的重要组成部分，约有1，000种，主要分布于南美洲顶端至美国西南部，北至加拿大、欧洲和非洲。 在拉丁美洲，从热带潮湿森林到温带沙漠，再到安第斯山脉的生态系统，都有这种现象。 这些植物分布的一个特别有趣的方面是，在北美洲和南美洲的干旱地区之间有几个属的间断分布，它们之间有数千英里的差距。 这些植物的分类是混乱和过时的，最近没有系统的研究试图整合整个家庭。 该项目将对该科的所有物种进行取样，利用几个核基因和叶绿体基因的DNA序列重建该植物科的系统发育，并利用该关系树构建一个更具预测性的分类，并检验其中物种起源和分布的假设。 该基金将支持野外和实验室研究。生物分类是科学家们交流地球上生命多样性的语言。 分子方法的发展，以了解物种之间的进化关系，允许建立一致的方法的基础上的分类。 因此，这项研究的一个重要成果将是对这组植物进行更有用的分类，供世界各地的科学家使用。 植物分布的格局与它们发生的环境条件密切相关。 马鞭草科植物在北美和南美的干旱地区具有多样性。 可以解释这种模式的假设之一是，过去的气候变化将曾经连续的分布分隔成两个相距甚远的区域。 了解植物分布的历史模式和可能导致它们的过程可能有助于科学家了解我们现在进入的预期气候变化期间植被的潜在变化。 由于这组植物的大部分多样性发生在拉丁美洲，Olmstead博士与中美洲和南美洲几个机构的科学家建立了合作关系。 预计这一科学交流将通过研究生交流（至少有一名华盛顿大学的格拉德生将前往拉丁美洲，一名阿根廷格拉德生将前往西雅图）和研究成果的合作出版，使美国和这些机构的科学家个人受益。

The Verbena family (Verbenasceae) is an important element in the New World flora, with approximately 1,000 species distributed primarily from the tip of South America to the SW US and with species extending as far north as Canada, Europe, and Africa. In Latin America it occurs from tropical wet forests to temperate deserts to high Andean ecosystems. One particularly interesting aspect of the distribution of these plants is the disjunct distribution of several genera between the arid regions of North America and South America, with a gap of several thousand miles between them. The classification of these plants is confusing and out of date with no recent systematic studies attempting to integrate across the entire family. This project will sample species throughout the family use the DNA sequences of several nuclear and chloroplast genes to reconstruct the phylogeny of this plant family and to use that tree of relationships to construct a more predictive classification and to test hypothesis of the origin and distribution of the species therein. The grant will support both field and laboratory research.Biological classification is the language with which scientists communicate about the diversity of life on earth. The development of molecular approaches to understanding evolutionary relationships among species has permitted the establishment of consistent methods for the basis of classification. Thus, one significant result of this research will be a more useful classification of this group of plants for scientists worldwide to use. Patterns of plant distribution are tightly linked to environmental conditions where they occur. Plants in family Verbenaceae have diversified in arid in North and South America. One of the hypotheses that may explain this pattern postulates past climate change that has segregated what was once a continuous distribution into two widely separated regions. Understanding the historical patterns of plant distributions and the processes that may have given rise to them may help scientists to understand the potential changes in vegetation during the anticipated climate change period we are now entering. Since most of the diversity of this group of plants occurs in Latin America, Dr. Olmstead has established collaborations with scientists at several institutions in Central and South America. It is anticipated that this scientific exchange will benefit individual scientists both in the US and at those institutions through graduate student exchange (at least one University of Washington grad student will travel to Latin America and one Argentine grad student will travel to Seattle) and collaborative publication of the research results.