Collaborative Research: Ecological Consequences of Inbreeding in Plants for Plant-Herbivore Interactions

超过一半的植物物种至少有20%的时间是自花授粉的，几乎所有研究的物种都因近亲繁殖而降低了适应性。 尽管对植物近亲繁殖的倾向和适应性后果进行了数十年的深入细致的研究，但几乎没有人知道近亲繁殖如何影响经常与近亲繁殖植物相互作用的生物体的生物学。近亲繁殖个体内遗传变异的丧失和近亲繁殖植物中相关的表型变化可能会极大地影响其他相互作用的植物和动物种群。我们正在扩大对植物近亲繁殖的研究，以包括植物交配系统和昆虫植食性的相互作用。我们将进行一系列的温室和田间实验，以验证植物近亲繁殖加剧了植食性昆虫的负面影响并改变了植食性昆虫宿主的质量的假设。我们还将划分为它的添加剂和非添加剂成分的草食动物抗性和宿主植物质量的遗传变异，以评估近亲繁殖种群的能力，以应对草食动物施加的选择。 我们的合作研究将是第一个将植物交配系统进化和植物-草食动物相互作用的重要学科结合起来的研究。这项研究的结果将有重要的意义，植物交配系统的进化，在宿主种群的抗性的演变，以及长期持续的人口片段经历不断上升的近亲繁殖水平。我们的研究结果也将通过选择性育种计划与农作物的发展有关。从草食动物的角度来看，这项研究将提供深入了解昆虫的能力，以应对环境异质性所创造的混合交配主机和他们的能力，利用主机的基因流受到限制。随着自然景观变得越来越分散，了解小种群内发生的遗传和生态过程对保护管理至关重要。

0075225CarrMore than half of all plant species self-pollinate at least 20% of the time and almost all species studied suffer reduced fitness as a result of inbreeding. Despite decades of intensive, detailed studies of the propensity and fitness consequences of inbreeding in plants, virtually nothing is known about how inbreeding influences the biology of organisms that regularly interact with inbred plants. It is likely that the loss of genetic variation within inbreeding individuals and the associated phenotypic changes in inbred plants will greatly affect other interacting populations of plants and animals. We are expanding the study of inbreeding in plants to include the interaction of plant mating-system and insect herbivory. We will conduct a series of greenhouse and field experiments to test the hypotheses that inbreeding in plants exacerbates the negative effects of herbivory and alters the quality of the host for insect herbivores. We will also partition genetic variation for herbivore resistance and host plant quality into its additive and non-additive components to assess the ability of inbreeding populations to respond to selection imposed by herbivores. Our collaborative study will be the first to unite the important disciplines of plant mating-system evolution and plant-herbivore interactions. The results of this study will have important implications for plant mating-system evolution, for the evolution of resistance in host populations, and for the long-term persistence of population fragments experiencing rising levels of inbreeding. Our results will also be relevant to the development of agricultural crops via selective breeding programs. From the herbivore's perspective, this study will provide insight into the ability of insects to respond to the environmental heterogeneity created by a mixed-mating host and their ability to exploit hosts that have restricted gene flow. As natural landscapes become increasingly fragmented, understanding the genetic and ecological processes that transpire within small populations is critical to conservation management.