DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Hybridization, genome duplication, and chemical diversification in the evolution of Calendula (Asteraceae)

植物是了不起的化学家。它们产生许多独特的化合物，这些化合物在不同的物种之间是不同的。当植物物种杂交并复制它们的基因组时，甚至会发生更多的变异。杂交和基因组复制（多倍体）对植物化学的影响将在金盏花中进行探讨，金盏花是地中海植物中一个具有丰富化学多样性的小群体，多倍体物种可能是由杂交产生的。该项目将使用DNA序列来确定物种之间的关系，并将使用液相和气相色谱法和质谱法调查化学多样性。研究人员将通过检测产生各种化学物质的酶的编码基因的表达时间和地点，并对它们的转录本进行测序。了解创造遗传和表型新颖性以及驱动物种分化的过程是理解各级生物多样性的基础。该项目汇集了系统学、分子生物学、生态学和生物化学等学科，促进了国际合作与交流。它将增加对地中海植物多样性的认识，并可能为地中海植物区系中该属的处理提供信息。所有数据和结果将通过GenBank、TreeBASE和NAPRALERT等数据库广泛传播，现场收集的标本将存放在康奈尔大学和国外合作机构。在该项目执行过程中获得的见解将丰富PlantingScience项目提供的指导，该项目将初高中学生与工作中的植物科学家联系起来。

Plants are remarkable chemists. They produce many distinct chemical compounds, and these compounds are different between different species. Even more variation occurs when plant species hybridize and duplicate their genomes. The effects of hybridization and genome duplication (polyploidy) on plant chemistry will be explored in Calendula, a small group of Mediterranean plants rich in chemical diversity, with polyploid species presumably created by hybridization. The project will use DNA sequences to determine how the species are related to each other, and will survey chemical diversity using liquid and gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The genes that encode the enzymes that make the various chemicals will be investigated by examining when and where they are expressed, and sequencing their transcripts. Understanding processes that create genetic and phenotypic novelty and drive divergence of species is fundamental to understanding biodiversity at all levels. This project brings together the disciplines of systematics, molecular biology, ecology, and biochemistry, and facilitates international collaboration and exchange. It will increase understanding of plant diversification in the Mediterranean and may inform treatments of the genus in Mediterranean floras. All data and results will be disseminated widely via databases such as GenBank, TreeBASE, and NAPRALERT, and specimens collected in the field will be deposited at Cornell and at collaborating institutions abroad. Insights gained during the execution of this project will enrich mentorship provided through the PlantingScience program, which connects middle and high school students with working plant scientists.