Collaborative Research: Phylogeny, Diversification, and Evolutionary Trajectories in the "Terebinthaceae" (Anacardiaceae and Burseraceae)

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)资助的。开花植物(被子植物)是地球上最多样化的植物群体(28万种)，几乎包括我们所有的农作物，但人们对促进这种多样性的生物和环境因素的相互作用知之甚少。这项拟议的研究将探索历史事件对两个具有重要经济和生态意义的被子植物-腰果(腰果科)和乳香和没药(乳香科)-的多样性速率的影响，通过1)使用分子遗传学技术重建它们的进化关系，以及2)调查这些植物的形态创新、生态特化和地理范围扩大或收缩的事件。项目结果将直接有助于理解生物如何随着生物和环境变化而成功或失败地进行多样性。六名美国首席调查人员，其中两名是女性，四名处于职业生涯早期，将在这个跨学科项目上合作，该项目将扩大我们管理和保护热带植物物种的能力，建立这些生物的博物馆藏品，并为代表不足群体的学生提供职业发展机会。学生将获得在医学、法医学和保护生物学等领域具有广泛应用的研究技能。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Flowering plants (angiosperms) are the most diverse group of plants on Earth (280,000 species) and include almost all of our agricultural crops, yet little is known about the interplay of biological and environmental factors that have fostered this diversity. The proposed study will explore the impact of historical events on rates of diversification in two related groups of economically and ecologically important angiosperms, the cashew (Anacardiaceae) and frankincense and myrrh (Burseraceae) families, by 1) reconstructing their evolutionary relationships using molecular genetics techniques and 2) investigating morphological innovations, ecological specializations, and episodes of geographic range expansion or contraction in these plants.Project results will directly contribute to the understanding of how living organisms succeed or fail to diversify in response to biotic and environmental change. Six U.S. principal investigators, two of whom are women and four of whom are at early stages in their careers, will collaborate on this cross-disciplinary project that will expand our ability to manage and conserve tropical plant species, build museum collections of these organisms, and provide professional development opportunities to students from under-represented groups. Student participants will obtain research skills that have broad application in fields such as medicine, forensic science, and conservation biology.