Location: Floral and Nursery Plants Research
Project Number: 8020-21000-080-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Mar 20, 2018
End Date: Mar 19, 2023
Objective:
Objective 1: Conduct systematic and genetic analyses of priority woody landscape plant genera (chiefly Ulmus, Quercus, and Fraxinus) to elucidate their systematic relationships, revise their taxonomic classifications, and assess the amount, apportionment, and nature of the genetic diversity they contain. Record and disseminate characterization data via GRIN-Global and other data sources.
Subobjective 1A – Elucidate the taxonomy and cytology of Fraxinus (ash) in eastern North America.
Subobjective 1B – Determine the distribution of alleles of expressed loci in oaks (Quercus).
Subobjective 1C – Clarify the taxonomy and diversity of Ulmus (elms), emphasizing potentially disease-resistant germplasm in subg. Oreoptelea.
Subobjective 1D – Clarify the taxonomy and reproductive biology of Celtis.
Sub-objective 1E – Carry out taxonomic research that meets the needs of stakeholders, such as the production of regional floras and botanical manuals, in collaboration with other scientists and horticulturists.
Objective 2: Efficiently and effectively maintain and expand the U.S. National Arboretum Herbarium, Seed Herbarium, and associated documentation as foundational biological resources for agricultural, botanical, and plant genetic resource research.
Objective 3: Determine the identity and basic biological characteristics of selected invasive woody plants in the United States.
Approach:
Work will involve study of plant material, both in wild habitats and cultivated in our botanical garden. We will carry out classical studies using the morphology of the plants, flow cytometry to estimate genome size and thus ploidy level, and study of various DNA markers, including SSR markers for simple parentage studies and NextGen sequencing studies to gather detailed information on evolutionary relationships and history of plant groups. Research will also involve a wide variety of analyses, including phenetic analyses for investigating overall patterns of variation, and searching for clusters and discontinuities in the distribution of plants through multivariate character space; phylogenetic analysis for investigating ancestral relations among groups of plants; and admixture analysis for detecting hybridization.
