RUI: Collaborative research - Genetic and Cell Behavioral Characterization of Nonrandom Mating in Arabidopsis Thaliana

RUI合作研究：拟南芥非随机交配的遗传和细胞行为特征由于开花植物缺乏移动性，它们有时被认为是被动的配偶，不加选择地接受所有的精子。然而，撒在雌花上的花粉是一种混合物，其比例通常与后代的比例不匹配。换句话说，一些花粉有更大的交配成功率，这种现象称为非随机交配。这项提议的主要科学家将利用模式植物拟南芥中可用的工具来研究遗传结构和负责相容配偶之间非随机交配的细胞行为。利用A.这些科学家正在构建涉及非随机交配的雌性和雄性遗传位点的初步地图。 这些科学家还利用显微手术和表达不同颜色荧光蛋白的花粉细胞之间的比赛来表征这两种品种中负责竞争性能的花粉细胞行为。相容的配偶选择机制在生物界中具有显著的进化意义。在这一建议中概述的两种方法，遗传和细胞生物学，相辅相成，产生一个独特的全面了解这些机制在开花植物，这样的研究解决了植物生殖选择和花功能的基本问题，并可能在农业中特别有价值。最后，该项目需要两个本科院校之间的跨专业合作，其中一个是历史上的黑人女子学院;这种合作将暴露和招收学生的研究专业，同时加强两个机构的研究和教学基础设施。

RUI Collaborative research: Genetic and cell behavioral characterization of nonrandom mating in Arabidopsis thaliana.Because of their lack of mobility, flowering plants are sometimes thought to be passive mates, accepting all sperm indiscriminately. The pollen dusted across the female flower, however, is a mixture, whose proportions do not often match proportions within progeny. In other words, some pollen have greater mating success, a phenomenon called nonrandom mating. The principle scientists for this proposal will exploit tools available in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana to study the genetic architecture and cell behaviors responsible for nonrandom mating among compatible mates. Using genetically-distinct accessions of A. thaliana, these scientists are constructing preliminary maps of the female and male genetic loci involved in nonrandom mating. These scientists are also characterizing pollen cell behaviors responsible for competitive performances in these two accessions, using microsurgery and races between pollen cells expressing fluorescent proteins of different colors. Compatible mate choice mechanisms have striking evolutionary significance in organisms across kingdoms. The two approaches outlined in this proposal, genetic and cell biological, compliment each other to yield a uniquely comprehensive understanding of these mechanisms in flowering plants; such studies address fundamental questions in plant reproductive choice and flower function and could be especially valuable in agriculture. Finally, this project demands cross-specialty collaboration between two undergraduate institutions, one of them a historically black college for women; this collaboration will expose and recruit students to research professions, while enhancing the research and teaching infrastructures of both institutions.