Molecular Systematics of the Nymphaeales
{'Code': '08010207', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'DEB', 'LongName': 'Division Of Environmental Biology'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Scott L. Collins', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
An important issue in plant evolution involves the origin of               the flowering plants.  Drs. Donald Les and Charles Wimpee of the                University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee will study this problem by                 focusing on phylogenetic relationships among primitive aquatic                  plants in the waterlily group, the ten genera of the Nymphaeales.               Because these plants possess features that are considered                       primitive, they may represent an early "branch" off the                         evolutionary line leading to the remainder of the flowering                     plants.  Biologists, however, have been unable to specify the                   precise relationships of waterlily taxa to other plants because                 the great age of the group has resulted in considerable                         divergence in many morphological traits.  As a result, the many                 traits either lost or changed over time have prevented meaningful               estimations of phylogenetic affinity.                                                At the gene level, the DNA sequence of plants records their                evolutionary history as molecular changes become fixed within                   related lineages as they diverge (through mutation) from others.                Unlike morphological features, genes may change in their                        structure but are seldom lost.  As a result, the structure of one               gene can be compared between very distantly related groups that                 may appear morphologically dissimilar.  Using techniques of                     modern molecular biology, Drs. Les and Wimpee will examine this                 record of molecular evolutionary change by "sequencing" the                     nucleotides of the DNA molecule itself.  They have chosen to                    sequence a gene called "rbcl" which codes for a portion of an                   important enzyme of photosynthesis in plants.  Using recent                     innovations including the polymerase chain reaction, they will                  examine DNA sequences in all ten waterlily genera and in several                putatively related groups.  By computer analysis of the sequence                data, they will reconstruct the phylogenetic or branching pattern               among these genera, based upon the genealogy of molecular changes               that have occurred as the taxa diverged.  This work will clarify                the evolutionary relationships among primitive flowering plants,                and it may also provide better understanding of the ancestors,                  and hence origin, of flowering plants.
[{'FirstName': 'Donald', 'LastName': 'Les', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'H', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Donald H Les', 'EmailAddress': 'les@uconn.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000329968', 'StartDate': '01/01/1989', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}, {'FirstName': 'Charles', 'LastName': 'Wimpee', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'F', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Charles F Wimpee', 'EmailAddress': 'cwimpee@uwm.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000464011', 'StartDate': '01/01/1989', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Co-Principal Investigator'}]
{'Name': 'University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee', 'CityName': 'MILWAUKEE', 'ZipCode': '532113188', 'PhoneNumber': '4142294853', 'StreetAddress': '3203 N DOWNER AVE # 273', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'Wisconsin', 'StateCode': 'WI', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '04', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'WI04', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'JBQ9M3PLFDP5', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SYSTEM', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': None}
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{'Code': '1127', 'Text': 'Evolutionary Processes'}
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