DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Selective constraints, genetic correlations, and divergence of the flavonoid pathway in Silene vulgaris

植物类黄酮途径形成不同的化学物质组，负责几个重要的角色，包括色素沉着，植物防御，抗氧化剂和防晒。一个相互连接的基因网络负责每一个类黄酮亚群的产生。基因调控的变化和随后的类黄酮表达将受到该途径不同分支之间共享的基因和酶的控制，这表明在类黄酮群之间可能存在权衡，从而导致相关的生态功能。从高海拔和低海拔植物（高紫外线b环境和低紫外线b环境）的互移植实验中提取的Silene vulgaris个体进行下一代多转录组测序，以测试其对特定环境的适应性和类黄酮基因表达，并将其与类黄酮的化学分析进行比较。这将允许同时考虑整个类黄酮途径，特别是特定分支的表达增加如何影响整体表达表型。研究代谢途径的相关性状将有助于揭示植物次生代谢的进化，阐明基因网络中的不同点如何受到适应性进化的影响，并影响整个途径的发展。由于黄酮类化合物普遍存在，本研究将适用于大多数植物。特别是，拟议的研究还将扩展沿UV-B梯度的植物适应性差异的知识，这些变化与人类介导的全球变化有关。该提案还详细介绍了在自然环境和非模式生物中使用下一代测序技术，这可能会鼓励沿着这些方向进一步研究。

The plant flavonoid pathway forms distinct groups of chemicals responsible for several important roles, including pigmentation, plant defense, antioxidants, and sunscreen. An interconnected network of genes is responsible for the production of each flavonoid subgroup. Changes in gene regulation and subsequent flavonoid expression will be controlled by genes and enzymes that are shared among different branches of the pathway, suggesting that there may be trade-offs between flavonoid groups and therefore the related ecological functions. Next-generation sequencing in the form of multiple transcriptomes will be made of Silene vulgaris individuals taken from a reciprocal transplant experiment of high and low elevation plants (high and low UV-B environments) to test for adaptation to specific environments and flavonoid gene expression, which will be compared to chemical analyses of flavonoids. This will allow the consideration the entire flavonoid pathway simultaneously, in particular how increased expression of a specific branch affects the overall expression phenotype. Studying the correlated traits of a metabolic pathway will shed light on the evolution of secondary metabolism in plants, illuminating how different points in gene networks can be subject to adaptive evolution and influence overall pathway development. Since flavonoids are ubiquitous, this research will be applicable to most plants. In particular, the proposed research will also expand on knowledge of plant adaptive divergence along UV-B gradients, shifts in which have been associated with human-mediated global change. This proposal also details using next-generation sequencing techniques in a natural setting and non-model organism, which may encourage further studies along those lines.