CAREER: Macroevolutionary Trends of Defenses and Counterdefenses in an Ancient Plant-Insect Interaction

职业：古代植物-昆虫相互作用中防御和反防御的宏观进化趋势

• 批准号: 0237545
• 负责人: Judith Becerra
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: University of Arizona
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-02-15 至 2009-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0237545&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Macroevolutionary; Trends; Defenses; Counterdefenses

The goal of this grant is to study the coevolution between the plant genus Bursera and its herbivores, the beetle genus Blepharida. These are highly diverse, tropical groups with spectacular adaptations and counteradaptations. In Bursera, resin is stored in canals that run throughout the leaves. In some species, the resins are pressurized and when leaves are damaged, an abundant release of resins is triggered. Besides being toxic, resin solidifies when exposed to air and may entomb small insects completely. Yet some Blepharida species can neutralize Bursera's resin defense by severing the leaf veins to stop the flow of resins before feeding on the leaves. Using DNA-based family trees of insects and plants, I will investigate the role of plant defenses in directing evolutionary host shifts by Blepharida. I will also determine the historical correlations of Bursera's defenses with the insect counterdefenses, and the time when they originated. This grant also seeks to help expand the undergraduate and graduate basic science curriculum in the Department of Entomology at the University of Arizona, through the developing of courses in insect and plant biology and to help undergraduates develop their teaching skills by training them in teaching natural history in the field and lab.

这项拨款的目的是研究Bursera植物属和它的食草动物Blepharida甲虫属之间的共同进化。它们是高度多样化的热带种群，具有惊人的适应和反适应能力。在Bursera中，树脂被储存在贯穿整个叶子的管道中。在一些物种中，树脂是加压的，当树叶受损时，树脂会大量释放。除了有毒之外，树脂暴露在空气中会凝固，可能会把小昆虫完全埋葬。然而，一些Blepharida物种可以在吃叶子之前切断叶脉，阻止树脂的流动，从而中和Bursera的树脂防御。利用基于dna的昆虫和植物家谱，我将研究植物防御在指导Blepharida进化宿主转移中的作用。我还将确定Bursera防御与昆虫反防御的历史相关性，以及它们起源的时间。该基金还旨在通过开发昆虫和植物生物学课程，帮助亚利桑那大学昆虫学系的本科生和研究生扩展基础科学课程，并通过培训本科生在实地和实验室教授自然史，帮助他们提高教学技能。