Doctoral Dissertation: Phylogenetic Relationships within Alectra (Orobanchaceae) and Evolution of rbcS in Orobanchaceae

博士论文：Alectra（列当科）内的系统发育关系和列当科 rbcS 的进化

• 批准号: 0514157
• 负责人: Andrea Wolfe
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Ohio State University Research Foundation -DO NOT USE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-06-15 至 2008-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0514157&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Phylogenetic; Relationships; within

Alectra is a group of around 30 species of herbaceous parasitic plants that occur primarily in southern/eastern Africa and Madagascar. Species of Alectra parasitize grasses or cultivated legumes. Two types of parasitism exist within flowering plants (semi- and full-parasitism), and within Alectra both types are known; this situation is unique and allows for an examination of the evolutionary shift between the two habits. Full parasitism results in plants no longer producing their own food and losing their green pigmentation and leaves, while semi-parasites retain green leaves and only obtain water and nutrients from their "host" plant. Thorough examination of floral, stem and leaf characteristics, in combination with DNA sequences, will be utilized to examine the evolutionary history of this group. Additionally, as Alectra belongs to a completely parasitic family of plants, the evolution of genes involved in the photosynthetic (food-producing) pathway will be examined for degradation in the fully parasitic members of this family.This project involves collaborations with scientists and researchers in countries within southern/eastern Africa and Madagascar. All parties involved will learn about the practical aspects of conserving rare and threatened habitats and the plants within them. The production of dichotomous keys, species descriptions and illustrations will facilitate identification of rare Alectra species in the wild, and this information will be available to the public via the World Wide Web, making it easier for local management authorities and conservation agencies to protect them.

Alectra是大约30种草本寄生虫，主要发生在南非/东部和马达加斯加。 Alectra种类寄生的草或栽培豆类。开花植物中存在两种类型的寄生虫（半寄生虫和全寄生虫），而在Alectra中，两种寄生虫都是已知的。这种情况是独一无二的，可以检查两个习惯之间的进化转变。完全的寄生虫会导致植物不再产生自己的食物并失去绿色的色素沉着和叶子，而半寄生虫则保留绿叶，仅从其“宿主”植物中获取水和养分。将利用对花卉，茎和叶片特性与DNA序列结合的彻底检查，以检查该群体的进化史。此外，由于Alectra属于完全寄生的植物家族，因此将检查参与光合作用（食物生产）途径的基因的演变，以在该家族的完全寄生成员中进行降解。该项目涉及与南非和东部非洲和马达加斯卡郡的国家的科学家和研究人员的合作。所有有关方面都将了解保护稀有和受到威胁栖息地以及其中的植物的实际方面。生产二分键，物种描述和插图将有助于识别野外稀有的Alectra物种，并且该信息将通过万维网向公众提供，使地方管理当局和保护机构更容易保护它们。