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

合作研究：拟南芥非随机交配的遗传和细胞行为特征。由于它们缺乏移动性，开花植物有时被认为是被动的配偶，不加区别地接受所有的精子。然而，散布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，这种现象被称为非随机交配。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相容伴侣之间非随机交配的遗传结构和细胞行为。利用不同基因的拟南芥，这些科学家正在构建与非随机交配有关的雌性和雄性基因位点的初步图谱。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争，描述了这两种植物中负责竞争表现的花粉细胞行为。相容的配偶选择机制在跨界生物中具有显著的进化意义。本文提出的遗传和细胞生物学两种方法相辅相成，对开花植物的这些机制有了独特而全面的了解；这些研究解决了植物生殖选择和花功能方面的基本问题，在农业方面可能特别有价值。最后，这个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；这一合作将使两所大学的研究和教学基础设施得到加强，并吸引更多的学生从事研究工作。

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.