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。由于缺乏移动性，开花植物有时被认为是被动交配，不分青红皂白地接受所有精子。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，一些花粉的交配成功率更高，这种现象被称为非随机交配。这一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亲和配偶之间非随机交配的遗传结构和细胞行为。这些科学家使用遗传上截然不同的拟南芥种质，正在构建与非随机交配有关的雌性和雄性遗传基因座的初步图谱。这些科学家还利用显微外科手术和表达不同颜色荧光蛋白的花粉细胞之间的竞争，表征了这两个材料中负责竞争表现的花粉细胞的行为。相容的配偶选择机制在不同王国的有机体中具有显著的进化意义。这项建议中概述的两种方法--遗传学和细胞生物学--相互补充，对开花植物的这些机制有了独特的全面了解；这些研究解决了植物生殖选择和花功能的基本问题，在农业中可能特别有价值。最后，该项目需要两所本科院校之间的跨专业合作，其中一所是历史上的黑人女子学院；这种合作将使学生进入研究专业并招收学生，同时加强两所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.