9726838 Sang Reconstructing hybrid speciation in Paeonia section Paeonia by phylogenetic analyses of Adh gene sequences This research will explore a new approach, phylogenetic analysis of single or low copy nuclear genes, to reconstruct hybridization events in speciation in the section of peonies. Large numbers of plant species are suggested to be of hybrid origin, and currently there is difficulty in detecting and analyzing results of reticulate evolution. For these reasons Dr. Sang's study should have broad applications for the study of other organismal groups. Peonies (Paeonia, Paeoniaceae), known as "queen of herbs" in Greece and "king of flowers" in China for over a thousand years, are ornamentally and medicinally valuable plants. The largest section of the genus, section Paeonia, consisting of approximately 27 herbaceous species distributed widely from eastern Asia to the Mediterranean region, has been taxonomically problematic due primarily to complex hybridization within the section. Dr. Sang has chosen to use single or low copy number alcohol dehydrogenase gene sequences(Adh1A and Adh2) identified in putative non-hybrid species of section Paeonia as molecular markers. For the putative hybrid species, the alleles of each locus will be amplified by locus specific PCR primers, cloned, and sequenced. The sequences will be aligned with those of the non-hybrid species for phylogenetic analyses. If the parental alleles are maintained and cloned at each locus from a hybrid, phylogenetic analyses should provide a precise reconstruction of relationships of the parental lineages, and changes in chromosome numbers (ploidy levels) and taxonomically important characters such as degree of dissection of leaflets, length of staminodial disks, number and shapes of sepals, corolla shapes, number of flowers per stem, and root shapes can be traced. Field work to collect new plant material is planned in France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the Caucasus Mountains. An accurate phylogenetic re construction and a better understanding of morphological evolution of section Paeonia will permit a better classification of peonies.
