Collaborative Research: Population differentiation in an herbaceous plant: genetic divergence and outbreeding depression

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）。摘要在植物中，物种之间的区别往往是不完整的，允许生产的杂交种，往往表现不佳。相反，在一个单一的物种，遗传分化可能会在孤立的群体之间发展，导致杂交表现不佳，称为远系繁殖衰退。本研究的长期目标是评估草本植物的远交衰退和遗传分化模式，初步数据显示，相对于其亲本，种群间杂交的性能降低了90%。要实现这一目标，需要分子遗传标记适合于评估人口分化。拟议的研究将开发分子标记，并使用这些标记来评估四个孤立的群体之间的分歧。对遗传分化和远系繁殖衰退的研究很重要，因为它们提供了对物种形成最早阶段的一瞥。此外，保护和恢复计划往往涉及来自不同种群的个体。更好地了解远系繁殖抑郁症的来源是必要的，使管理决策混合基因库从不同的人口。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).ABSTRACTIn plants, the distinction between species is often not complete, allowing for the production of hybrids that frequently perform poorly. Conversely, within a single species, genetic differentiation may develop between isolated populations resulting in poor performance of crosses, termed outbreeding depression. The long-term goal of this research is to evaluate patterns of outbreeding depression and genetic divergence for an herbaceous plant where preliminary data reveal up to a 90% reduction in performance of between-population crosses relative to their parents. Addressing this goal requires molecular genetic markers suitable for assessing population differentiation. The proposed research will develop molecular markers and use those markers to evaluate divergence among four isolated populations. Studies of genetic divergence and outbreeding depression are important as they provide a glimpse into the earliest stages of speciation. In addition, conservation and restoration programs often involve combining individuals from different populations. A greater understanding of the source of outbreeding depression is necessary to make management decisions about mixing gene pools from different populations.