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

论文研究：食虫植物中的几丁质酶亚功能化：石竹目作为测试案例

• 批准号: 1011021
• 负责人: Chelsea Specht
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-06-01 至 2012-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1011021&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Chitinase; Subfunctionalization; Carnivorous

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.

几丁质酶是一类能水解昆虫外骨骼和真菌细胞壁中几丁质的植物蛋白质，对害虫和病原菌具有抑制作用。在植物食肉性进化过程中，几丁质酶基因可能发生了复制和分化，产生了一些现在在食肉性中起作用的基因。该项目将促进对几丁质酶基因进化和食肉性的理解，其中一个主要的植物类群已经进化为食肉性。本研究将重建食肉动物类群的进化历史，研究几丁质酶基因的分歧，确定几丁质酶类型之间的进化选择，并记录其基因表达模式。 本研究首次分析了几丁质酶基因家族的进化及其与植物食肉性的关系。除了提高对几丁质酶功能的适应性多样化过程的理解外，研究结果还将以增加对卡氏藻目分类群之间关系的理解的形式提供科学基础设施。该项目还将为本科生提供指导和基于研究的培训，并将向公众传播有关食肉植物及其进化生物学的信息。