Dissertation Research: Chitinase Subfunctionalization in Carnivorous Plants: the Caryophyllales as a Test Case

几丁质酶是一组植物蛋白，可以通过降解昆虫外骨骼和真菌细胞壁中的几丁质来阻止食草动物和病原体。在植物肉食性动物的进化过程中，几丁质酶基因可能已经复制和分化，产生了一些现在在肉食性动物中起作用的基因。这个项目将促进对石竹目几丁质酶基因和肉食性进化的理解，石竹目是进化出肉食性动物的主要植物群之一。这项研究将重建肉食性类群的进化史，研究几丁质酶基因的差异，确定几丁质酶类型之间的进化选择，并记录它们的基因表达模式。本研究首次分析了几丁质酶基因家族的进化及其与植物肉食性的关系。除了提高对几丁质酶功能适应性多样化过程的理解外，这些结果还将以增加对石竹目分类群之间关系的理解的形式提供科学基础。该项目还将为本科生提供指导和以研究为基础的培训，并向公众传播有关食肉植物及其进化生物学的信息。

Chitinases are a group of plant proteins that can deter herbivory and pathogens by hydrolyzing chitin in insect exoskeletons and fungal cell walls. During the evolution of plant carnivory, chitinase genes may have duplicated and diverged, giving rise to some that now function in carnivory. This project will advance understanding of the evolution of chitinase genes and carnivory in the Caryophyllales, one of the major plant groups that has evolved carnivory. This study will reconstruct an evolutionary history of carnivorous taxa, study divergence of chitinase genes, determine evolutionary selection among types of chitinases, and document their patterns of gene expression. This study is the first to analyze the evolution of the chitinase gene family and it relationship with plant carnivory. In addition to improving understanding of the process of adaptive diversification of chitinase function, the results will provide scientific infrastructure in the form of increased understanding of relationships between taxa of Caryophyllales. The project also will provide mentoring and research-based training for undergraduates and will transmit information on carnivorous plants and their evolutionary biology to the general public.