Genetic mechanisms of rapid adaptive evolution in an outbred natural population

最近的研究清楚地表明，进化可以非常迅速，在短短5到10代的时间里，性状就会发生实质性的遗传变化。快速进化是对重大环境变化的反应，包括自然的和人为的。然而，性状快速进化背后的遗传机制尚不清楚。野生萝卜花是研究这些遗传机制的一个很好的模型系统。以前由美国国家科学基金会资助的关于该物种的项目已经产生了丰富的基因组序列数据，并证明了对植物繁殖至关重要的花卉特征的快速进化。这个项目将通过将植物育种的传统方法与尖端的分子遗传和基因组技术相结合，来确定野生萝卜适应性花卉性状极快进化的遗传机制。除了提高我们对适应性进化的整体理解之外，拟议的项目还将为野生萝卜成功繁殖的机制提供新的见解，野生萝卜是世界上最具破坏性的农业杂草之一。它还将产生基本的遗传知识。大多数遗传学研究使用高度近亲繁殖的实验室菌株，但大多数动物(包括人类)和许多植物都是在高度近亲繁殖的种群中自然产生的。为了充分了解包括遗传病在内的任何性状的遗传学，需要研究基因在自然繁殖状态下的影响；该项目将为此目的开发和测试新方法。

Recent studies clearly show that evolution can be very rapid, with substantial genetic change in traits occurring in as little as five to 10 generations. Rapid evolution occurs in response to major environmental changes, both natural and human-mediated. However, the genetic mechanisms underlying the rapid evolution of traits are unknown. Wild radish flowers represent an excellent model system to investigate these genetic mechanisms. Previous NSF-supported projects on this species have produced both abundant genome sequence data and demonstrated rapid evolution of floral traits that are essential to plant reproduction. This project will determine the genetic mechanisms underlying the extremely rapid evolution of adaptive floral traits in wild radish by combining traditional approaches from plant breeding with cutting-edge molecular genetic and genomic techniques.In addition to improving our overall understanding of adaptive evolution, the proposed project will provide new insights into the mechanisms of successful reproduction in wild radish, one of the world's most damaging agricultural weeds. It will also produce fundamental genetic knowledge. Most genetic studies use highly inbred laboratory strains, but most animals (including humans) and many plants occur naturally in highly outbred populations. To fully understand the genetics of any trait, including a genetic disease, the effects of the genes need to be studied in their naturally outbred state; this project will develop and test new methods for this purpose.