En-Gen: Ecological Genomics of Drought Adaptation in Mimulus

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Understanding adaptive plant responses to aridity is key for predicting evolutionary responses to climate change. The proposed research integrates ecology, physiology, and genomics to identify the mechanisms that allow plants to adapt to water availability and drought stress. Using the emerging model species Mimulus guttatus (monkeyflower), the investigators will search for genes involved in drought escape (flowering time) and dehydration avoidance (water use efficiency). With ecological experiments in the wild, this work will link natural genomic variation to functional ecological adaptations. The investigators will also characterize natural drought response variation among genotypes collected from diverse habitats, and generate genetic lines that can be used to identify novel genomic regions responsible for adaptation to water availability. By addressing fundamental questions about plant adaptation to water availability, the research will greatly deepen our understanding of environmental genomics. To facilitate rapid future studies, the highly diverse genetic material generated by this project will be made available to the entire scientific community. Students and postdoctoral fellows will receive cross-disciplinary mentoring and training, to prepare them for collaborative studies at levels from the landscape to the nucleotide. The investigators will engage high school and undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in workshops and research projects.