Radiation of the Vernonieae (Compositae) in montane and lowland habitats in the Americas

对菊科部落斑潜蝇的系统发育重建，重点放在物种丰富的Critoniopsis和Vernon anthura属上，将用于追踪美洲部落辐射的途径和时间。菊科植物是所有开花植物家族中最大的(23,000-30,000种)，分布在世界各地。然而，Vernon ieae是该家族中唯一一个在南部、中部和北美山地和低地栖息地广泛辐射的属。Critoniopsis和Vernon anthura具有许多属性，使它们成为研究影响新大陆许多动植物分布的重大气候和地质事件影响的极佳候选者。辐射跨越了该地区一些最具生物意义的地质和气候事件，包括安第斯山脉的抬升、南美洲东部的干旱、巴拿马地峡的关闭(美国大立交)以及现代西印度群岛的形成。拟议的研究将澄清南美洲和北美之间主要扩散路线的可用性和时间安排。来自核和叶绿体基因组的DNA序列数据将被用来重建斑潜蝇和冠叶蝉的进化史。它们将被置于部落的系统发育框架内，从而扩大其系统价值。将使用DIVA和似然法进行生物地理分析，以探索对所观察到的模式的一系列解释。这将与这两个属物种的系统发育地位相关联。这项研究是高度合作的，包括来自巴西、墨西哥、夏威夷大学马诺阿分校的学生和教职员工，以及史密森学会和费尔柴尔德植物园的同事。研究生和本科生将有多种机会参与研究和数据分析，并将努力接触夏威夷原住民学生。Vernon ieae在巴西的代表性特别好，圣保罗大学的一个小型研讨会专门为促进积极从事菊科系统学工作的学生以及在不远的将来将发挥带头作用的学生的合作活动而设计。通过生命百科全书(EOL)项目信息将与更广泛的科学界共享。

A phylogenetic reconstruction of the Compositae tribe Vernonieae, with a focus on the species rich genera Critoniopsis and Vernonanthura, will be used to trace pathways and timings of the radiation of the tribe in the Americas. The Compositae is the largest of all flowering plant families (23,000-30,000 species) and is distributed worldwide. However, the Vernonieae is the only tribe in the family with genera widely radiated in South, Central, and North America in both montane and lowland habitats. Critoniopsis and Vernonanthura have a number of attributes that make them excellent candidates for investigating the effects of the major climatic and geological events that have affected the distribution of many plants and animals in the New World. The radiation spans some of the most biologically significant geologic and climatic events in the region including the uplift of the Andes, the drying of eastern South America, the closure of the Isthmus of Panama (the Great American Interchange) and the formation of the modern West Indian islands. The proposed research will clarify the availability and timing of major dispersal routes between South and North America. DNA sequence data from nuclear and chloroplast genomes will be used to reconstruct the evolutionary histories of Vernonanthura and Critoniopsis. They will be placed within the phylogenetic framework of the tribe thus extending its systematic value. Biogeographical analyses will be conducted using DIVA and likelihood methods in order to explore a range of explanations for the patterns observed. These will be correlated with the phylogenetic position of species in both genera. The research is highly collaborative and involves students and faculty from Brazil, Mexico, University of Hawaii at Manoa and colleagues at the Smithsonian Institution and the Fairchild Botanical Garden. Graduate and undergraduate students will have multiple opportunities to participate in research and data analyses and efforts will be made to reach out to native Hawaiian students. The Vernonieae are particularly well represented in Brazil and a mini-symposium at the University of Sao Paulo is specifically designed to promote collaborative activities of students who are actively working in Compositae systematics and who will be taking the lead in the not-to-distant future. Through the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) project information will be shared with the wider scientific community.