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已导致各种花形，颜色和尺寸。某些花特性经常相关，这些相关性定义了通常称为“授粉综合征”的相关性。例如，夜间开放并具有长管的白色花通常表示霍克莫斯授粉。人们普遍认为，授粉综合征的过渡会导致植物物种形成，包括开花植物的起源和辐射。这项研究的目的是通过关注富含物种的Ruellia属来研究此类过渡。 Ruellia大约有300种，是热带葡萄干的第二大属（大约4,000种）。基于初步进化分析（E. Tripp，Untub。Data），密切相关的物种经常表现出各种授粉综合征，表明授粉媒介在Ruellia的整体形态中可能具有很大的作用。尽管墨西哥是Ruellia多样性的热点，但墨西哥Ruellia物种的当前分类抽样和现场收集很差。该提案描述了通过墨西哥南部地区收集探险，再加上基于博物馆的国家和国际草药的工作，将允许对Ruellia的物种关系和授粉综合症的演变进行充分的探索。方法包括分子测序，标准的谱系分析，植物鉴定和形态分析，现场收集和植物标本室策展，以及局部和/或区域植物植物处理的构建。授粉过渡有助于植物多样化，研究这种过渡以及Ruellia物种之间的关系以及涉及工厂的生动性，从而涉及工厂，从而涉及工厂，从而涉及工厂的生成。对生物多样性的知识对每个人来说至关重要，尤其是对热带分类单元的知识，因为关键栖息地以前所未有的速度消失。此外，植物收集对所有生物学研究都是至关重要的，并且在今天仍然至关重要，尤其是在尚未有许多多样性的热带地区。已经表明，收集数据可用于保护决策1,2。这项工作将使墨西哥的保护基础设施受益，并促进我们与墨西哥机构，植物学家和学生之间的国际科学合作。为了确保我们在了解生物多样性的历史和未来方面的成功，必须在传统的田野生物学和博物馆/植物素策展以及现代分子方法中继续接受生物学家的一代生物学家的培训。