Dr. Zhang Ling of XTBG has chaired the research program of “Research on the reproductive biology and its population genetics structure of Tacca chantrieri” over the past few years. With very rewarding research results, the program has recently passed acceptance check by expert panel organized by CAS Kunming Branch.

    Through field observations and experiments, the program team collected and cultivated 8 species of the genus Tacca and studied its pollination, mating systems and genetic structure, etc. The relevant research results have been published in Annals of Botany, American Journal of Botany, and Biodiversity Science.

   Dr. Charles Fenster, Associate Editor of Evolution and International Journal of Plant Sciences, has ever reported this research with the title of “Reproductive assurance and the evolution of pollination specialization” in International Journal of Plant Sciences.

Following are some academic papers about this program:

1.      Zhang Ling, Qing-Jun Li, Hong-Tao Li, Jin Chen, De-Zhu Li. 2006. Genetic diversity and geographic differentiation inTacca chantrieri(Taccaceae): an autonomous selfing plant with showy floral display. Annals of Botany. 98: 449-457.

2.      Zhang Ling, Spencer H. Barrett, Jiang-Yun Gao, Jin Chen, W. W. Cole, Yong Liu, Zhi-Lin Bai and Qing-Jun Li. 2005. Predicting mating patterns from pollination syndromes: The case of “sapromyiophily” inTacca chantrieri(Taccaceae).American Journal of Botany. 92 (3): 517-524.

3.      Zhang Ling, Qing-Jun Li and De-Zhu Li. 2006. Genetic diversity ofTacca integrifolia(Taccaceae) in the Brahmaputra valley, Tibet. Biodiversity Science 14(1): 65-72.