Phenotypic Plasticity, Parental Effects, and Parental Care in Plants: An Examination of Spike Reflectance in Plantago lanceolata

莱西博士将讨论有关植物反射模式的基本问题。先前对车前草的实验表明，在开花季节，1)温暖的温度比凉爽的温度产生更高质量的后代，2)车前草的生殖结构根据当时的温度调整反射（和相反吸收）入射太阳辐射的量。例如，当温度较低时，发育中的花朵和水果会产生色素，减少反射率，增加吸收。莱西博士将测量反射率模式的这种可塑性反应对种子数量和后代质量的影响，她将检验反射率的可塑性是适应性的假设，换句话说，通过调节反射率，父母可以调节受精和后代早期发育，以提高种子产量和后代质量。莱西博士还将验证一个假设，即来自不同纬度和海拔的人群在总体反射模式上存在遗传差异。这些实验有两个实际的方面。首先，实验将明确地研究反射如何帮助植物温度调节种子生产和质量，这在农艺学和进化上都很重要。由于目前关于植物体温调节的知识可以忽略不计，杉木将作为一种模式生物收集数据，以后可以应用于作物物种。其次，这些数据将提高我们对自然种群和作物种群的种子产量和质量如何应对全球变暖的理解。

Dr. Lacey will address fundamental questions about plant reflectance patterns. Previous experiments with Plantago lanceolata show that during the flowering season, 1) warm temperatures produce higher quality offspring than do cool temperatures and 2) the reproductive structures in P. lanceolata adjust the amount of incoming solar radiation that they reflect (and conversely absorb) in response to prevailing temperature. For example, when temperatures are low, developing flowers and fruits produce pigments that reduce reflectance and increase absorption. Dr. Lacey will measure the effects of this plastic response in reflectance pattern on seed quantity and offspring quality, and she will test the hypothesis that this plasticity in reflectance is adaptive, in other words, that by adjusting reflectance, parents thermoregulate fertilization and early offspring development to enhance seed production and offspring quality. Dr. Lacey will also test the hypothesis that populations from different latitudes and altitudes differ genetically in overall reflectance pattern.There are two practical aspects of the experiments. First, experiments will explicitly examine how reflectance helps plants thermoregulate seed production and quality, which are of agronomic as well as evolutionary importance. Because current knowledge about thermoregulation in plants is negligible, P. lanceolata will serve as a model organism for collecting data that can later be applied to crop species. Second, the data will improve our understanding of how seed production and quality in natural and crop populations will respond to global warming.