Collaborative Research: Sex Ratio Evolution in Ephemeral Demes of a Gynodioecious Plant

0078546 tayl雌胚异株是植物种群中雌雄同体个体和雌性个体共存的一种情况。当一个突变（称为细胞质雄性不育（CMS）因子）导致雌雄同体失去雄性功能，同时增加种子产量时，就会出现这种情况。了解雌蕊如何持续存在是植物种群生物学领域的一个持续问题。本项目将结合分子遗传标记和遗传杂交，研究在天然小群体中存在多少不同的CMS因子，以及这些因子在空间上的分布情况。这将与数学和计算机模型相结合，以便了解当地人口的灭绝和重新定居如何影响雌蕊异体的进化。这个项目将涉及几个更广泛的科学问题。首先，CMS因素是“自私DNA”的一个例子。对寻常草的研究将是为数不多的将分子标记与自然界中的自私元素联系起来的研究之一。其次，研究小种群和碎片化种群的遗传学对保护生物学具有重要意义。这项研究将产生关于小群体遗传过程的一般信息。最后，雌蕊对农业很重要，因为它被植物育种者用作提高作物产量的工具。

0078546TaylorGynodioecy is a condition in plant populations in which hermaphroditic and female individuals coexist. It arises when a mutation (called a cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) factor) causes hermaphrodites to lose male function, with a concurrent increase in seed production. Understanding how gynodioecy persists is an ongoing question in the field of plant population biology. This project will combine molecular genetic markers and genetic crosses to ask how many different CMS factors exist in small natural populations of Silene vulgaris, and how those factors are distributed spatially. This will be combined with mathematical and computer models in order to understand how the extinction and recolonization of local populations influences the evolution of gynodioecy.This project will be relevant to several broader scientific issues. First, CMS factors are an example of "selfish DNA". The studies of S. vulgaris will be one of the few to link molecular markers to selfish elements in nature. Second, the study of the genetics of small and fragmented populations is significant for conservation biology. This study of S. vulgaris will yield general information about genetic processes in small populations. Finally, gynodioecy is important for agriculture because it is used as a tool by plant breeders for increasing crop yield.