DISSERATION RESEARCH: Evolution of development of the progamic phase in Nymphaeales

论文研究：睡莲目早熟期发育的演变

• 批准号: 0910171
• 负责人: Joseph Williams
• 金额: $ 1.1万
• 依托单位: University of Tennessee Knoxville
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-06-01 至 2011-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0910171&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERATION; RESEARCH; Evolution; development; progamic

Evolution of development of the progamic phase in NymphaealesA defining feature of angiosperms is the flower, and flowers are tremendously diverse in the way they look and develop. Much of the diversity of flowers may arise from their role in attracting pollen and/or pollinators. At the same time, flowers must also allow pollen to germinate and form a compatible pollen tube that carries sperm to egg. Although pollination has to occur before a pollen tube can grow, little is known about how evolutionary changes in pollinator attraction correlate with events that happen afterward from pollen tube growth to fertilization. This research uses natural- and hand-pollination experiments to describe fertilization biology in the water lilies (Nymphaeales), a group with diverse flowers and pollination mechanisms. Such data will then be used to correlate evolutionary changes in floral form with post-pollination biology. The specific goal of this award is to gather data from Trithuria (Hydatellaceae), a tiny and poorly understood Australasian plant that is remarkably different from other water lilies.The water lilies represent an independent flowering plant lineage that diverged from the rest of angiosperms over 125 million years ago, and so evolutionary transitions in floral and fertilization biology within this lineage are of great interest to comparative biologists. This project has provided research opportunities for three undergraduates and one local educator, and will provide funding for two additional students to assist with fieldwork in Australia and lab work in the USA. It also facilitates collaboration between University of Tennessee and Western Australian researchers.

睡莲目早期发育阶段的进化被子植物的一个决定性特征是花，而花的外观和发育方式极其多样。花的多样性很大程度上可能源于它们在吸引花粉和/或传粉者方面的作用。同时，花还必须允许花粉发芽并形成兼容的花粉管，将精子输送到卵子。尽管授粉必须在花粉管生长之前发生，但人们对传粉媒介吸引力的进化变化如何与花粉管生长到受精之后发生的事件相关联知之甚少。这项研究使用自然和人工授粉实验来描述睡莲（睡莲目）的受精生物学，睡莲是一个具有不同花朵和授粉机制的群体。然后，这些数据将用于将花形态的进化变化与授粉后生物学联系起来。该奖项的具体目标是收集Trithuria（Hydatellaceae）的数据，这是一种微小且人们知之甚少的澳大利亚植物，与其他睡莲截然不同。睡莲代表了一个独立的开花植物谱系，在1.25亿年前与其他被子植物分化，因此该谱系内花和受精生物学的进化转变引起了比较生物学家的极大兴趣。该项目为三名本科生和一名当地教育工作者提供了研究机会，并将为另外两名学生提供资金，以协助他们在澳大利亚进行实地考察和在美国进行实验室工作。它还促进了田纳西大学和西澳大利亚研究人员之间的合作。