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。由于开花植物缺乏流动性，有时被认为是被动交配，不加区别地接受所有精子。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，某些花粉具有更高的交配成功率，这种现象称为非随机交配。该提案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负责相容配偶之间非随机交配的遗传结构和细胞行为。这些科学家正在利用拟南芥遗传上不同的种质，构建参与非随机交配的雌性和雄性遗传位点的初步图谱。 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赛来表征花粉细胞行为，这些行为负责这两个品种的竞争表现。兼容的配偶选择机制在跨界生物体中具有惊人的进化意义。该提案中概述的两种方法（遗传方法和细胞生物学方法）相互补充，以产生对开花植物中这些机制的独特全面的理解；此类研究解决了植物繁殖选择和花卉功能的基本问题，在农业中尤其有价值。最后，该项目需要两个本科机构之间的跨专业合作，其中一个是历史悠久的黑人女子学院；另一个是历史悠久的黑人女子学院。这项合作将让学生接触和招收研究专业的学生，​​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.