Collaborative Proposal: Phylogenetics and Floral Symmetry Development of the Core Goodeniaceae

花的形状和颜色似乎无穷无尽的多样性迷住了人类，但在最复杂和最重要的生物相互作用中，进化到吸引传粉者。本项目测试了与向日葵大科密切相关的古葵科植物的植物多样性对物种形成的影响。Goodeniaceae（400多种）是澳大利亚和太平洋岛屿上物种最丰富、最美丽的植物科之一，对澳大利亚西南部植物区尤其重要，是全球生物多样性受到威胁的热点地区。目前对这些植物的分类并不能准确地反映它们的进化史，因此将利用DNA序列对这一群体进行全面的修订。数字图像分析、花对称基因表达和整个发育过程中的对称模式将被检验以量化物种的花形。将利用这一新资料评估这些形状对多样化率的影响的假设。本科研究人员将帮助研究昆虫传粉者与西澳大利亚一些物种的相互作用。来自田纳西州孟菲斯和纽约皇后区不同社区的学生将成为该项目不可或缺的一部分，并将获得分子和进化生物学许多方面的专业知识。该项目还将有助于确定新物种和潜在稀有物种的保护状况。

The seemingly endless diversity of flower shapes and colors captivates humans but evolved to entice pollinators in one of the most intricate and crucial biological interactions. This project tests the impact of floral diversity on speciation in the plant family Goodeniaceae, which is closely related to the large sunflower family. Goodeniaceae (400+ species) is one of the most species-rich and beautiful plant families in Australia and the Pacific Islands, and is particularly important to the Southwestern Australian Floristic Province, a threatened global biodiversity hotspot. The current taxonomic classification of these plants does not accurately reflect their evolutionary history, so a comprehensive revision of the group will be made using DNA sequences. Digital image analysis, floral symmetry gene expression, and the patterns of symmetry throughout development will be examined to quantify the species' floral shape. Hypotheses of the impact of these shapes on rates of diversification will be assessed using this new information. Undergraduate researchers will help study the interaction of insect pollinators with a subset of species in Western Australia. Students from the diverse communities of Memphis, Tennessee and Queens, New York will be an integral part of the project and will gain expertise in many aspects of molecular and evolutionary biology. This project will also help establish the conservation status of new and potentially rare species.