REVSYS Collaborative Research: Relationships, Character Evolution, and Biogeographic Patterns in the Phylogenetically Pivotal Lineage Nelsonioideae (Acanthaceae s.l.)

加州科学院和兰乔圣安娜植物园被授予对大型热带植物科棘豆科的莲亚科进行修订的系统学研究。Nelsonioids已在多个级别上进行了分类处理，其一些组成属已被归入不同的Lamiales科。这项研究将包括目前已知的所有7个睡莲属，以利用叶绿体和核DNA序列数据以及宏观和微观形态特征构建系统发育假说。将对新热带和古热带地区进行实地考察，以研究实地植物并获取样本进行分析。系统发育的结果将在属水平上指导这个被忽视的亚科的分类修订，并在特定水平上指导大约20种Elytraria的全面专著。了解睡莲属的系统发育及其属间的关系对于解决兔目的系统发育和理解形态特征的进化至关重要。该项目将继续并促进两名曾与私人投资机构合作的年轻科学家的职业发展。四名研究生将在RSA接受培训，本科生将通过NSF资助的项目在RSA和CAS参加。国际合作和实地考察将在国际植物学家和外国植物学家之间进行。国家数据库将填充该项目的数据和图像，我们的成果摘要将通过网站向公众展示。

An award is made to the California Academy of Sciences and Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden to conduct a Revisionary Systematics study of the Nelsonioideae subfamily of the large tropical plant family Acanthaceae. The nelsonioids have been treated taxonomically at multiple ranks, and some of its constituent genera have been placed in different families of Lamiales. This study will include all seven currently recognized nelsonioid genera to construct phylogenetic hypotheses of relationships using chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequence data and macro- and micromorphological characters. Field trips to the Neotropics and Paleotropics will be conducted to study the plants in the field and obtain samples for analysis. Phylogenetic results will guide taxonomic revisions for this much-neglected subfamily at the generic level and a comprehensive monograph of the ca. 20 species of Elytraria at the specific level.Knowledge of nelsonioid phylogeny and relationships among its genera are critical to resolving phylogeny of Lamiales and to understanding evolution of morphological characters. This project will continue and enhance career development of two young scientists who have worked with PIs. Four graduate students will receive training at RSA, and undergraduates will participate via NSF-funded programs at RSA and CAS. International collaborations and fieldwork will take place between the PIs and foreign botanists. National databases will be populated with data and images from the project and summaries of our results will be presented to the general public via websites.