U.S.-Mexico Cooperative Research: Molecular Basis and Evolution of the Natural Homeotic Phenotype of Lancandonia Schismatica

这项美墨奖将支持加州理工学院的Elliot Meyerowitz博士与墨西哥国立自治大学（UNAM）生态研究所的Elena Alvarez Buylla博士的合作。研究人员打算研究这种植物的分子基础和进化。拉坎多尼亚是一种产于墨西哥恰帕斯州的特有植物，它的花是目前所知的唯一一种生殖轮功能空间倒置的例子，即雄蕊在中央轮，心皮在第三轮。Meyerowitz博士一直是研究花卉发育分子机制模型的领导者，这些模型已经在其他开花植物（包括拟南芥）的研究中得到证实。研究人员现在计划利用rDNA序列作为特征来源，建立系统发育关系，克隆和结构表征与拟南芥ABC基因相似的基因，并以其他方式测试两属植物花发育遗传控制的相似性或差异性。由于其功能的独特性，拉坎多尼亚为被子植物花的模式提供了必要的例外，以进行严格的分子模型测试。这两个实验室具有互补的技能：美国实验室提供分子技术方面的专业知识，而墨西哥实验室则为合作带来其在系统发育和种群生物学方面的专业知识。＊＊＊

9724731 Meyerowitz This U.S-Mexico award will support Dr. Elliot Meyerowitz of the California Institute of Technology in collaboration with Dr. Elena Alvarez Buylla of the Instituto de Ecologia of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). The researchers intend to study the molecular basis and evolution of the plant, Lacandonia schismatica. Lacandonia is a unique endemic plant from Chiapas, Mexico, whose flower is the only known example of a functional spatial inversion of the reproductive whorls, that is, stamens in the central whorl and carpels in the third one. Dr. Meyerowitz has been a leader in developing models for the molecular mechanisms of flower development, models which have been corroborated by studies in other flowering plants, including Arabidopsis. The researchers now plan to establish the phylogenetic relationships by using rDNA sequences as sources of characters, to clone and structurally characterize the genes similar to the ABC genes of Arabidopsis and to test in other ways the similarity or differences in the genetic control of flower development in the two genera of plants. Because of its functional uniqueness, Lacandonia provides the necessary exception to the pattern of flowers in angiosperms for a rigorous testing of molecular models. The two laboratories have complementary skills: the U.S. lab provides the expertise in molecular technology, while the Mexican lab brings to the collaboration its expertise in phylogenetic and population biology. ***