REU: Using Mathematical Models of Pollinator Movement and Pollen Deposition to Predict Gene Flow in Plants

昆虫授粉植物中花粉传播的空间模式既影响植物的繁殖成功，也影响新基因或引入的基因在植物种群中传播的速度。然而，目前还缺乏将传粉者移动和花粉沉积的信息结合起来对花粉扩散进行定量预测的能力。这项拟议的研究将开发使用偏微分方程(P.D.E.)预测植物中基因流动的定量工具。传粉者移动和花粉沉积的模型。以芥菜及其三种主要传粉昆虫为材料，进行田间试验，研究植物空间布置对传粉者运动行为的影响。这些实验的结果将被用来建立昆虫运动的P.D.E.模型。其他实验将利用一个标记基因来测量授粉者访问一系列芥菜时花粉沉积的速度。最后，有关昆虫运动和花粉沉积的信息将被整合，以产生各种植物排列的预期花粉沉积模式。预期的模式将与华盛顿大学的Peter Kareiva博士和Robin Manasse博士进行的现场实验中观察到的标记基因的扩散进行比较。这项研究的结果将对了解遗传邻域的空间结构和植物密度分散对植物繁殖成功的影响，以及预测和控制导入基因的传播具有重要意义。

The spatial pattern of pollen dispersal in insect-pollinated plants affects both plant reproductive success and the rate at which novel or introduced genes will spread through plant populations. Currently however, there is a lack of ability to combine information about pollinator movement and pollen deposition to make quantitative predictions about pollen dispersal. The proposed research will develop quantitative tools for predicting gene flow in plants using partial differential equation (P.D.E.) models of pollinator movement and pollen deposition. Field experiments designed to measure the effect of plant spatial arrangement on pollinator movement behavior will be conducted using the mustard Brassica campestris and its three major insect pollinators. The results of these experiments will then be used to build P.D.E. models of insect movement. Additional experiments will utilize a marker gene to measure the rate of pollen deposition as pollinators visit a sequence of mustard plants. Finally, information about insect movement and pollen deposition will be integrated to generate expected pollen deposition patterns for a variety of plant arrangements. The expected patterns will be compared to the observed dispersal of a marker gene in field experiments conducted by Drs. Peter Kareiva and Robin Manasse at the University of Washington. The results of this study will be important in understanding the spatial structure of genetic neighborhoods and the effect of plant density dispersion on plant reproductive success, and in predicting and controlling the spread of introduced genes.