9509121 Porter The important role that animal pollinators like insects play in the origin of morphological diversity in flowering plants is generally appreciated. However, we still know little about the actual sequence of events associated with evolutionary change from one pollination syndrome (for example, by bird, bat, bee, or moth) to another. Through analysis of the historical, genealogical sequence of speciation events in a group of plants with well-known pollination syndromes, we should be able to reconstruct in detail the evolutionary path to new pollination mechanisms. Dr. J. Mark Porter, a specialist in molecular systematics, and Dr. Dieter Wilken, a specialist in plant morphology and taxonomy, are working together to determine the phylogeny of the species of the phlox family, Polemoniaceae. About 120 species will be studied, as representative of the floral and pollinator diversity in the family, for both DNA and morphological characteristics. DNA analyses will be conducted on nuclear ribosomal sequences and on chloroplast genes. Congruent patterns of species divergence that are revealed by both molecular and morphological analysis constitute robust hypotheses of phylogenetic relationship. This genealogical framework in turn provides a road map to the sequence of changes in floral shape, size, and phenology associated with the ecological shifts in pollinators through the course of evolution in these plants.
