International Research Fellowship Program: Reproductive Morphology and Anatomy, and Molecular Phylogeny of the Aquifoliales

Schori Melanie, Athens OH

Investigators

Abstract

The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support an eleven-month research fellowship by Dr. Melanie Schori to work with Dr. Paula Rudall at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew in the United Kingdom. Reproductive morphology, anatomy, and development provide insights into relationships among genera as well as among major lineages of plants. The order Aquifoliales has recently been shown to be basal to Asterales, Apiales, and Dipsacales. Aquifoliales contains five families, including the hollies, and certain members exhibit unusual floral and fruiting diversity. Representatives of each genus are being examined to assess differences in floral embryology, development, and fruit anatomy. Reproductive characters are being mapped onto a three-gene phylogeny so characters can be examined in a phylogenetic context to determine character polarities and patterns of evolution within the Aquifoliales. DNA data have significantly changed the current understanding of plant relationships, but molecular data are not always sufficient to resolve finer-scale relationships. Understanding relationships is crucial for applications from species identification and conservation to plant breeding. Structure and development, especially of reproductive features, tend to be conserved and provide valuable information about patterns of evolution. However, the reproductive anatomy and development of most plants have not been studied. Researchers are returning to anatomical studies to answer questions about relationships. The research funded by this project will answer questions about relationships and unique flower and fruit types in the hollies and their relatives. In addition, its valuable data will be used by researchers studying flower and fruit diversity and evolution in related economically important groups like the sunflower family (Asteraceae) and the carrot family (Apiaceae).