Collaborative Research (Arabidopsis 2010): Ecological Genomics of Adaptation to the Environment

本研究探讨了拟南芥适应（生长、生存和繁殖）不同自然环境的生态和遗传机制。研究人员将利用极端的自然温度梯度和日照长度的野生种群，确定自然界中控制植物表现的性状和基因。我们特别感兴趣的性状包括开花时间、耐寒性和抗旱性，以及植物在生理胁迫条件下进行光合作用（从阳光中获取能量）的能力。研究人员将确定自然界中有助于适应的基因以及单个基因的影响程度。这项工作的一个主要目标是研究在一种环境中有积极影响而在其他环境中有消极影响的基因的重要性。人们对这类基因知之甚少，但认为它们在适应中起着关键作用。这项研究将使人们更深入地了解植物应对不同环境的机制，并有可能为培育植物/作物新品种提供遗传工具。此外，该研究系统非常适合研究全球气候变化的可能后果以及植物适应快速变化条件的潜力。

This research investigates the ecological and genetic mechanisms that allow the plant Arabidopsis thaliana to adapt (grow, survive and reproduce) to different natural environments. Using wild populations from the extremes of a natural gradient in temperature and length of daylight, the investigators will identify the traits and genes that govern plant performance in nature. Traits of particular interest include flowering time, freezing and drought tolerance, and the capacity of plants to photosynthesize (make energy from sunlight) under conditions of physiological stress. The investigators will identify the genes that contribute to adaptation in nature and the magnitude of the effect of individual genes. A major goal of this work is to investigate the importance of genes that have positive effects in one environment but negative effects in other environments. Such genes are poorly understood but are thought to play a key role in adaptation.The study will provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that allow plants to cope with different environments and has the potential to provide genetic tools for producing new varieties of plants/crops. In addition, the study system is well suited to investigate the possible consequences of global climate change and the potential of plants to adapt to rapidly changing conditions.