DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Systematics and Pollinator Transitions in the Species-Rich Genus Ruellia (Acanthaceae)

论文研究：物种丰富的 Ruellia 属（爵床科）的系统学和传粉媒介转变

• 批准号: 0608363
• 负责人: Paul Manos
• 金额: $ 1.19万
• 依托单位: Duke University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-06-15 至 2008-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0608363&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Systematics; Pollinator; Transitions

The co-evolution of plants and their pollinators has given rise to a variety of flower shapes, colors, and sizes. Certain flower traits are frequently correlated, and these correlations define what is commonly termed a "pollination syndrome". For example, white flowers that open at night and have long tubes are generally indicative of hawkmoth pollination. Transitions in pollination syndromes are widely believed to contribute to plant speciation, including the origin and radiation of the flowering plants. The goal of this research is to study such transitions by focusing on the species-rich genus Ruellia. With approximately 300 species, Ruellia is the second largest genus in the tropical family Acanthaceae (ca. 4,000 species). Based on preliminary evolutionary analyses (E. Tripp, unpub. data), closely related species often display a variety of pollination syndromes, indicating that pollinators have likely had a large role in the overall speciation of Ruellia. Though Mexico is a hotspot for Ruellia diversity, current taxonomic sampling and field collections of Mexican Ruellia species is poor. This proposal describes how a plant collecting expedition through southern portions of Mexico, coupled with museum-based work out of national and international herbaria, will permit a full exploration of species relationships and the evolution of pollination syndromes in Ruellia. Methods include molecular sequencing, standard genealogical analyses, plant identification and morphological analyses, field collections and herbarium curation, and the construction of local and/or regional floristic treatments.Because pollination transitions contribute to plant diversification, studying such transitions as well as relationships among Ruellia species can lend insight into processes involved in plant speciation, and thus to the generation of biodiversity. Knowledge of biodiversity is of paramount importance to everyone, particularly knowledge of tropical taxa where critical habitat is disappearing at unprecedented rates. Further, botanical collections have been fundamental to all biological investigations and remain essential today, especially in tropical regions where much diversity has yet to be documented. It has been shown that collections data can be useful in conservation decision-making1,2. This work will benefit the conservation infrastructure in Mexico and promote international scientific collaboration between US and Mexican institutions, botanists, and students. To ensure our success in understanding the history and future of biodiversity, it is imperative that the upcoming generation of biologists continue to be trained in traditional field biology and museum/herbarium curation, as well as modern molecular methods.

植物及其传粉媒介的共同进化产生了各种形状、颜色和大小的花朵。某些花性状经常是相关的，这些相关性定义了通常所说的“授粉综合症”。例如，夜间开放且具有长管的白色花朵通常表明天蛾授粉。人们普遍认为授粉综合症的转变有助于植物物种形成，包括开花植物的起源和辐射。这项研究的目标是通过关注物种丰富的 Ruellia 属来研究这种转变。 Ruellia 属约有 300 种，是热带爵床科（约 4,000 种）中的第二大属。根据初步的进化分析（E. Tripp，未发表的数据），密切相关的物种经常表现出多种授粉综合症，表明传粉媒介可能在 Ruellia 的整体物种形成中发挥了重要作用。尽管墨西哥是 Ruellia 多样性的热点地区，但目前墨西哥 Ruellia 物种的分类采样和野外收集很贫乏。该提案描述了墨西哥南部地区的植物采集考察，加上国家和国际植物标本馆的博物馆工作，将如何全面探索鲁埃利亚的物种关系和授粉综合症的演变。方法包括分子测序、标准谱系分析、植物鉴定和形态分析、田间采集和植物标本馆管理，以及当地和/或区域植物区系处理的构建。由于授粉转变有助于植物多样化，因此研究这种转变以及 Ruellia 之间的关系物种可以帮助我们深入了解植物物种形成的过程，从而了解生物多样性的产生。了解生物多样性对每个人来说都至关重要，特别是了解热带类群的知识，那里的重要栖息地正以前所未有的速度消失。此外，植物收藏一直是所有生物学研究的基础，并且在今天仍然至关重要，特别是在尚未记录大量多样性的热带地区。事实证明，馆藏数据可用于保护决策1,2。这项工作将有利于墨西哥的保护基础设施，并促进美国和墨西哥机构、植物学家和学生之间的国际科学合作。为了确保我们成功地了解生物多样性的历史和未来，下一代生物学家必须继续接受传统野外生物学和博物馆/植物标本馆管理以及现代分子方法的培训。