SGER: Big Science at Small Schools Collaboration: Genomics of Chamaecrista fasciculata, a native praire plant with potential for mixed prairie biomass

该项目将开发Chamaecrista fasciculata作为模式生物，以测试有关豆科植物（一个大家族的植物轴承豆荚）进化的关键问题，其中几个成员是重要的农业作物或遗传分析的关键模式生物。这些问题包括：（1）多倍性是否是该科的一个古老特征，或仅是最近进化的物种的特征; fasciculata独立于其他豆科植物中常见的基因进化; 3）开花时间和花结构的基因是豆科植物特有的，在豆科植物中保守，在最近的豆科植物中发散。为了解决这些问题，研究人员将对C.束状根和嫩枝。这些序列及其解释将大大有助于豆科植物的研究和我们对这一重要类群进化的一般理解。Chamaecrista的比较遗传分析也将揭示豆类与拟南芥的最后共同祖先的分歧，这是目前大多数遗传分析的模型。尽管生物技术的进步现在使小型学校的本科生可以获得详细的遗传数据，但将基因组学研究和教育结合在小型学校的潜在机会尚未完全实现。该项目带来了新一代测序技术，并有机会与表达或活性基因的整个序列一起工作到本科学校，以扩大学术界和劳动力的参与。卡尔顿学院将根据拟议的研究开发一个教育模块，并与康奈尔大学和国家基因组资源中心（NCGR）进行互动。该模块将通过康奈尔大学生物教师研究所向高中教师提供，并通过NCGR的教育计划向西班牙裔服务机构（HSI），社区学院和部落学院和大学（TCUP）的教师和学生提供。

This project will develop Chamaecrista fasciculata as a model organism to test key questions about the evolution of the Leguminosae (a large family of plants bearing bean pods), several members of which are important agricultural crops or key model organisms for genetic analysis. These questions include 1) whether polyploidy is an ancient feature of this family, or characteristic of the more recently-evolved species only, 2) whether nodules containing symbiotic bacteria in C. fasciculata evolved independently from those common in other legumes, and 3) which genes for flowering time and flower structure are unique to the legumes, conserved within the legumes, and divergent in the more recent legumes. To address these questions, the researchers will sequence all of the active genes in C. fasciculata roots and shoots. These sequences and their resulting interpretation will contribute significantly to research on legumes and to our general understanding of the evolution of this important group. Comparative genetic analysis of Chamaecrista will also shed light on the divergence of the legumes from the last common ancestor shared with Arabidopsis, which is the current model for most genetic analyses.Although advances in biotechnology now make detailed genetic data available to undergraduates at small schools, the potential opportunities to integrate genomics research and education at smaller schools have yet to be fully realized. This project brings new-generation sequencing technology and the opportunity to work with whole sequences of expressed or active genes to an undergraduate school, to broaden participation within the academy and in the workforce. An educational module based on the proposed research will be developed at Carleton College, informed by interactions with Cornell and the National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR). The module will be accessible to high school teachers through the Cornell Institute for Biology Teachers and to teachers and students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI), community colleges and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUP), through educational programs at NCGR.