Molecular Evolution of Floral Homeotic Genes in the Hawaiian Silversword Alliance (Asteraceae)

998107 . purugganan调控基因在发育模式和适应进化中起核心作用。调控基因的分子进化一定起源于不同物种内部的分子变异。理解这些发育控制基因的进化动力学需要在种群水平上研究它们的进化，这种变异起源于何处，遗传力量在何处发挥作用，以决定交替等位基因的命运。该项目将研究夏威夷银字联盟中4个植物调控位点（ASAPETALA1-A和-B， ASAPETALA3/TM6-A和-B）的分子群体遗传学，这是植物适应性辐射的主要例子。本研究将探讨快速进化类群中两个新近分化的物种——树蛙（Dubautia arborea）和纤毛蛙（D. ciliolata）的调控基因进化动力学。我们建议测试关于塑造控制植物形态的基因多样化的历史力量的假设，以及在物种形成界面上驱动调节基因进化的选择力量。这项工作的结果将使我们更好地理解驱动基因和基因组进化的力量，这反过来将有助于为作物育种、植物保护和基因组分析等不同领域的努力提供信息。

9981072Purugganan Regulatory genes play central roles in the evolution of developmental patterns and adaptation. The molecular evolution of regulatory genes must have its origins in molecular variation that occurs within distinct species. Understanding the evolutionary dynamics of these developmental control genes requires investigating their evolution at the level of populations, where this variation has its origins and where genetic forces play themselves out to determine the fates of alternate alleles. This project will study the molecular population genetics of four floral regulatory loci (ASAPETALA1-A and -B, and ASAPETALA3/TM6-A and -B) within the Hawaiian silversword alliance, a premier example of a plant adaptive radiation. Our study will explore the dynamics of regulatory gene evolution in Dubautia arborea and D. ciliolata, two recently-diverged species within the rapidly-evolving group. We propose to test hypotheses on the historical forces that shape the diversification of genes which control plant morphology, and on the selective forces that drive regulatory gene evolution at the interface of speciation. The results of this work will allow us to better understand the forces that drive gene and genome evolution, which in turn will help inform efforts in fields as disparate as crop breeding, plant conservation and genomic analysis.