Biodiversity, phylogeny and biogeography of African and Madagascan Melastomataceae

泛热带的白藓科M.l. (172 gen.，4800-5000种）是十大被子植物科之一。它们可以通过它们的顶生的叶序和美丽的花来识别，花大多数是孔裂的，雄蕊明显。众所周知，Mexicataceae的非洲成员研究不足，在分子研究中几乎没有代表。非洲最具多样性的部落，有约1000种。13属185种，而马达加斯加约有9属70种。对新热带区Mackinateae的详细分子研究表明，古热带区属形成了一个起源于新热带区祖先的单系谱系。Dissotis是目前世界上最大的属（120种）。似乎是多系的。尽管，非洲-马达加斯加Mackinateae的高度多样性，只有17个物种已被纳入分子系统发育研究。由于缺乏一个全面的形态和分子治疗，非洲，马达加斯加，和亚洲属的Mackinateae之间的关系是不完全解决和他们的形态和地理进化知之甚少。该研究项目的主要目标是根据非洲和马达加斯加的160份代表120个种和所有属的密集分类单元采样，解决非洲-马达加斯加Mackinateae的属间关系（和亚洲的选定代表）和多个快速排序-进化的基因组区域，辅以仔细的形态和地理调查的血统的基础上，研究植物标本。由于进一步的进化研究在Mackinateae依赖于一个深入的分类学的理解，这在很大程度上是未知的非洲血统的系统基础将是我们的首要目标。然后利用分子树重建古热带地区的木贼亚科的分歧时间、地理和形态多样性。包括拟议的古特有种，如Cailliella，Pseudosbeckia，Dionychastrum和Nerophila，将有助于我们了解Mackinateae在非洲和马达加斯加的起源和传播。花的形态在该组的研究将集中在雄蕊形态和异型雄蕊的进化，有一个直接的（可能是快速的）影响授粉综合征，并可能代表一个关键的字符在组中的多样化。我们的研究结果将有一个强大的和直接的影响，计划的植物区系治疗的家庭，例如，在正在进行的治疗中非的植物群和更新的植物区系喀麦隆和加蓬，因此有助于这些地区的植物区系生物多样性调查。

The pantropical Melastomataceae s.l. (172 gen., 4800-5000 spp.) rank among the ten largest angiosperm families. They can be recognized by their acrodromous leaf venation and beautiful flowers with mostly poricidal and conspicuously ornamented stamens. African members of Melastomataceae are notoriously understudied and only scarcely represented in molecular studies. Melastomateae is the most diverse tribe in Africa with ca. 185 species in 13 genera, while Madagascar has about 70 species in nine genera. A detailed molecular study of neotropical Melastomateae showed that the paleotropical genera form a monophyletic lineage originating from neotropical ancestors. Dissotis, currently the largest genus (120 spp.) in the Afro-Madagacan Melastomateae, seems to be polyphyletic. Despite, the high diversity of Afro-Madagascan Melastomateae, only 17 species have so far been included in molecular phylogenetic studies. Due to the lack of a comprehensive morphological and molecular treatment, the relationships among African, Madagascan, and Asian genera of Melastomateae are incompletely resolved and their morphological and biogeographical evolution is poorly understood. The main objective proposed for this research project is to resolve generic relationships in the African-Madagascan Melastomateae based on a dense taxon sampling comprising 160 accessions representing 120 species and all genera in Africa and Madagascar (and selected representatives from Asia) and sequencing of multiple fast-evolving genomic regions complemented by a careful morphological and geographical survey of the lineage based on the study of herbarium specimens. Since further evolutionary studies in Melastomateae depend on a deep taxonomical understanding of this largely unknown African lineage the systematic groundwork will be our first prime goal. Then the molecular trees will be used to reconstruct divergence times, geographical and morphological diversification of paleotropical Melastomateae. The inclusion of proposed paleoendemics such as Cailliella, Pseudosbeckia, Dionychastrum and Nerophila, will contribute to our understanding of the origin and spread of Melastomateae in Africa and Madagascar. Studies of floral morphology in the group will focus on stamen morphology and the evolution of heteranthery which has a direct (and probably fast) impact on the pollination syndrome and might represent one key character for diversification in the group. Our results will have a strong and direct impact on planned floristic treatments of the family, e.g. in the ongoing treatment of the Flora of Central Africa and in updating the Floras of Cameroon and Gabon, and therefore contribute to the floristic biodiversity survey of these regions.