SG: Diversification within the plant genus Polyspora (Theaceae) in Sri Lanka

斯里兰卡以其多样而独特的植物群而闻名，近30%的开花植物物种在其他地方都找不到。 这种植物多样性大部分集中在该岛南部的高地。 斯里兰卡的植物群被认为与西高止山脉的植物群有密切的亲缘关系，这两个地区共同构成了公认的全球生物多样性热点。 该项目将调查多孢菌属（山茶科），茶的亲戚，植物内的物种多样性，并使用该组作为一个模型，以检查斯里兰卡西高止山脉地区的植物多样性。 这项研究将澄清斯里兰卡已确认的多孢子虫物种的数量，并绘制其在该地区的分布模式。比较方法将用于估计斯里兰卡多孢菌物种在过去的多样化，如何随着时间的推移，他们的分布模式发生了变化，以及如何预测他们的分布模式在未来的变化。该项目将加强来自美国，斯里兰卡和印度的研究人员之间的国际合作，并将增加来自美国代表性不足群体的学生对科学的参与。一个物种水平的plastid和核DNA序列的属多孢菌的亲缘关系将被重建，并用于研究斯里兰卡和西高止山脉之间的地理关系，并在南亚一般。 斯里兰卡多孢菌谱系的姐妹群和分歧时间的确定将提供一个背景下，在斯里兰卡的多样化，并解决长期存在的问题，在Thecae属的数量，划界和地理分布，将提供一个框架，为未来的植物区系和分类工作的家庭。 一个单核苷酸多态性（SNP）分析120多孢菌加入将被用来提供一个精细的规模测试的地理结构在斯里兰卡。这种地理分析将被用来澄清属内的物种限制，并为未来的物种形成研究提供背景。

Sri Lanka is renowned for its diverse and unique flora, with nearly 30% of flowering plant species found nowhere else. Most of this plant diversity is concentrated in the highlands in the south of the island. The flora of Sri Lanka is assumed to have a close affinity to the flora of the Western Ghats, and together these two regions comprise a recognized global biodiversity hotspot. This project will investigate species diversity within the plant genus Polyspora (Theaceae), a relative of tea, and use the group as a model to examine plant diversification within the Sri Lanka-Western Ghats region. This study will clarify the number of recognized species of Polyspora in Sri Lanka and map their patterns of distribution within the region. Comparative methods will be used to estimate when Sri Lankan Polyspora species diversified in the past, how their patterns of distribution have changed through time, and how their patterns of distribution are predicted to change in the future. This project will strengthen international collaborations among researchers from the US, Sri Lanka and India, and will increase participation in science of students from underrepresented groups in the USA. A species level phylogeny of the genus Polyspora using plastid and nuclear DNA sequences will be reconstructed and used to examine biogeographic relationships between both Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats, and within South Asia in general. Identification of the sister group and divergence time of the Sri Lankan Polyspora lineage will provide a context for diversification within Sri Lanka and address longstanding questions on the number, delimitation, and geographic distribution of genera in Thecae that will provide a framework for future floristic and taxonomic work in the family. A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) analysis of 120 Polyspora accessions will be used to provide a fine-scale test of geographic structure within Sri Lanka. This phylogeographic analysis will then be used to clarify species limits within the genus and provide a context for future studies on speciation.