IRCEB: Molecular Evolutionary Ecology of Developmental Plasticity in Arabidopsis thaliana

表型可塑性，即同一基因型在不同环境下表达不同表型的能力，是生物体适应的一个重要组成部分。在植物中，正如在其他无根生物中一样，发育系统对生态信号的变化作出反应的能力使其在面对不断变化的环境条件时具有灵活性。如果不同的表型在它们所经历的特定环境中赋予了较高的相对适应性，那么这种可塑性可能被认为是适应性的。为了适应可塑性的进化，对感兴趣的性状的自然选择必须在不同的环境中有所不同，并且在该性状对这些环境的可塑性反应中必须存在遗传变异。然而，对于不同生态线索导致形态表型变异的特定基因，以及自然选择如何作用于这些基因，我们所知甚少。了解发育可塑性的遗传结构对于解决目前进化生物学家关于导致适应性进化的遗传机制的争论至关重要。解剖形态可塑性的遗传机制对于深入了解目前在分子水平上受到严格审查的发育途径的进化同样重要。一个综合的，全面的研究计划，以研究可塑性的分子进化生态学。我们将重点研究模式野生植物拟南芥的花序结构和生活史性状的变化与生态相关的光周期变化。他们将鉴定与自然发生的花序发育变异及其在不同光照条件下的生态可塑性相关的基因，在分子水平上检查这些位点的种群动态，并探索这些性状在自然环境中的遗传结构。在这个综合研究项目中，他们将具体：(1)研究拟南芥花序性状的遗传结构及其在不同光周期制度下的可塑性；(2)利用QTL定位方法确定在受控条件和自然环境下影响这些性状的候选位点；(3)研究花序分化发育途径的分子群体遗传学。(4)探索特定基因座之间在分子水平上自然发生的变异与野生种群性状表型多样性的关联程度；(5)探索个体基因座在可塑性反应中的作用；(6)检验野生特定基因座的自然选择。他们的工作将整合QTL定位、分子种群生物学、生态基因组学、进化生态学和发育生物学，在表型和分子水平上研究选择。

9976997Purugganan et al.Phenotypic plasticity, the ability of the same genotype to express different phenotypes in different environments, is a major component of organismal adaptation. In plants, as in other sessile organisms, the ability of developmental systems to respond to variations in ecological cues permits flexibility in the face of changing environmental conditions. This plasticity may be considered adaptive if differing phenotypes confer high relative fitness in the specific environments they experience. For adaptive plasticity to evolve, natural selection on the trait of interest must differ among environments, and there must be genetic variation in the plastic response of that trait to those environments. Very little is known, however, about the specific genes underlying variation in morphological phenotypes to diverse ecological cues or how natural selection acts upon those genes in the wild. Understanding the genetic architecture of developmental plasticity is critical to resolving the current debate among evolutionary biologists regarding the genetic mechanisms that lead to adaptive evolution of plasticity. Dissecting the genetic mechanisms underlying morphological plasticity is equally important for gaining insight into the evolution of developmental pathways currently under intense scrutiny at the molecular level.An integrated, comprehensive research program to study the molecular evolutionary ecology of plasticity. We will focus on the changes in inflorescence architecture and life history traits associated with ecologically relevant variation in photoperiod in the model wild plant Arabidopsis thaliana is proposed. They will identify genes associated with naturally-occurring variation in inflorescence development and its ecological plasticity under different light regimes, examine the population dynamics of these loci at the molecular level, and explore the genetic architecture of these traits in natural environments. In this integrated research program, they will specifically: (1) examine the genetic architecture of inflorescence traits in Arabidopsis thaliana and its plasticity under differing photoperiod regimes, (2) use QTL mapping approaches to identify positional candidate loci that affect these traits both under controlled conditions and natural environments, (3) examine the molecular population genetics of the developmental pathway that underlie inflorescence differentiation, (4) probe the extent to which naturally occurring variation at the molecular level among specific loci are associated with diversity in trait phenotypes in wild populations, (5) explore the role of individual loci in plasticity responses, and (6) test for natural selection at specific loci in the wild. Their efforts will integrate QTL mapping, molecular population biology, ecological genomics, evolutionary ecology and developmental biology by examining selection at both phenotypic and molecular levels.