BE-GenEn: Genomics of Adaptation to the Biotic and Abiotic Environment in Aquilegia

已向Scott Hodges博士、Elena克雷默博士、Magnus Nordborg博士、Jeff Tomkins博士和Justin Borevitz博士（分别来自加州大学圣巴巴拉分校、哈佛大学、南加州大学、克莱姆森大学和芝加哥大学）提供了一笔赠款，用于研究Columbine属Aquilegia对环境的适应。地球上生命的进化被适应性辐射的无数例子所打断。这些戏剧性的事件迅速创造了大量的生物多样性，并证明了快速的物种形成沿着形态和生理适应许多生态位。在显花植物属Aquilegia物种经历了最近的适应性辐射，并提出了一个独特的机会，以调查适应性的分子遗传变化。本属植物的花部形态差异很大，对不同的传粉者具有特异性。此外，物种在其栖息地从沿海森林到沙漠温泉到高山的根本不同。因为任何两个物种都可以成功地杂交，所以有可能剖析任何物种中任何性状的遗传基础。通过开发该属的一系列分子遗传资源，该项目将为广大科学家的大量研究提供基础设施。比较基因组研究将特别适合，因为Aquilegia是基础真双子叶植物家族毛茛科的成员，毛茛科在真双子叶植物模型系统如拟南芥和单子叶植物模型系统如水稻之间几乎等距。Aquilegia的基因组是开花植物中最小的，约为350 Mbp，这一事实将促进所有这些研究。该项目的具体目标是评估三个重要性状的遗传基础，即对特定传粉者的形态适应、开花时间的生理适应和对不同土壤/生境的适应。这些目标将通过建立一个Aquilegia属一个物种的基因组物理图谱来实现。福尔摩沙的EST序列，沿着了一个大规模的EST序列数据库和一个转换系统。EST序列将被定位到物理图谱上，并用于构建寡核苷酸阵列，用于表达研究和基于阵列的性状作图。精细定位和克隆的基因座影响花的方向将完成与阵列为基础的映射沿着与关联映射和表达研究。为了研究Aquilegia开花时间的进化，将克隆候选基因，并表征其表达模式和进化。为了确定适应不同生境的遗传结构，从A。福尔摩沙和A.它们的断点将被精细地绘制出来，它们在每个亲本物种的栖息地中的适合度也将被确定。

A grant has been awarded to Drs. Scott Hodges, Elena Kramer, Magnus Nordborg, Jeff Tomkins and Justin Borevitz (of the University of California, Santa Barbara, Harvard University, University of Southern California, Clemson University and University of Chicago respectively) to study adaptation to the environment in the columbine genus, Aquilegia. The evolution of life on earth has been punctuated by numerous examples of adaptive radiation. These dramatic events quickly create a large amount of biodiversity and are evidenced by rapid speciation along with morphological and physiological adaptations to numerous ecological niches. Species in the flowering plant genus Aquilegia have undergone a very recent adaptive radiation and present a unique opportunity to investigate the molecular genetic changes underlying adaptations. Species in this genus have spectacularly different floral morphologies with specializations to different pollinators. In addition, species differ radically in their habitats ranging from coastal forests to desert springs to the high alpine. Because any two species in the genus can be successfully crossed it is possible to dissect the genetic basis for essentially any trait in any species. By developing an array of molecular genetic resources for this genus, this project will provide the infrastructure for a host of studies by a broad community of scientists. Comparative genomic studies will be particularly amenable because Aquilegia is a member of the basal eudicot family Ranunculaceae, which is nearly equidistant between the eudicot model systems such as Arabidopsis and the monocot model systems such as rice. All of these studies will be facilitated by the fact that the genome of Aquilegia is among the smallest for a flowering plant at about 350 Mbp. The specific goals of this project are to evaluate the genetic basis of three important traits, morphological adaptation to a specific pollinator, physiological adaptation for flowering time and adaptation to different soil/habitats. These goals will be accomplished by developing a physical map of the genome of one species of Aquilegia, A. formosa, along with a large-scale EST sequence database and a transformation system. The EST sequences will be localized to the physical map and used to construct oligonucleotide arrays for expression studies and array-based mapping of traits. Fine-mapping and cloning of a locus affecting flower orientation will be accomplished with array-based mapping along with association mapping and expression studies. To investigate the evolution of flowering time in Aquilegia, candidate genes will be cloned and their expression patterns and evolution will be characterized. To determine the genetic architecture for adaptations to different habitats, recombinant inbred lines from a cross between A. formosa and A. pubescens will be created, their breakpoints finely mapped and their fitness determined in each parental species' habitat.