Divergence of novel, parallel, and speciation traits: the mechanisms and consequences of yellow monkeyflower adaptation to extreme geothermal habitats

植物如何适应极端环境？这种适应的长期和短期后果是什么？了解让少数植物在不同寻常的、否则是贫瘠的生境中茁壮成长的遗传和生理机制，既是一个基本的科学难题，也是减轻环境变化影响的关键。这项研究调查了黄猴花的适应性，这是黄石国家公园极热土壤中为数不多的几种植物之一。利用新的基因组学方法，它将确定独特的(例如，耐热性)和重复进化的特征背后的基因，并询问它们如何对新物种的生存、繁殖和发展做出贡献。所有的焦点性状都与农业有关，因此该项目可能揭示可转移到作物上的逆境耐受机制，同时也回答了基本的进化问题。该项目将对蒙大拿州的学生进行尖端基因组学技术方面的培训，并通过以国家公园为基础的推广努力，传播自然多样性的多重价值。该项目的主要目标是确定导致9个局部性状差异的基因组区域，并确定它们如何对当地适应和物种障碍做出贡献。这将揭示：a)植物如何应对极端环境；b)这是否会在更有利的条件下对性能进行权衡；c)哪些遗传途径在适应过程中被重复使用；d)新物种形成的关键步骤是什么。该研究计划将遗传图谱、生理分析和实地调查与多个空间尺度的全基因组扫描相结合。

How do plants adapt to cope with extreme environments? What are the long- and short-term consequences of that adaptation? Understanding the genetic and physiological mechanisms that let a few plant species thrive in unusual, otherwise barren, habitats is both a fundamental scientific puzzle and a key to mitigating the effects of environmental change. This research investigates adaptation in the yellow monkeyflower, one of a handful of plants living in the extraordinarily hot soils of thermal areas in Yellowstone National Park. Using new genomics approaches, it will determine the genes underlying unique (e.g., heat tolerance) and repeatedly evolving traits, and ask how they contribute to survival, reproduction, and the development of new species. All focal traits are of agricultural interest, so this project may reveal stress-tolerance mechanisms transferable to crops, while also answering fundamental evolutionary questions. The project will train Montana students in cutting-edge genomics techniques and, through National Park-based outreach efforts, communicate the multiple values of natural diversity. The primary goals of the project are to identify genomic regions contributing to divergence in nine focal traits and to determine how they contribute to both local adaptation and species barriers. This will reveal: a) how plants cope with extreme environments; b) whether that imposes tradeoffs in performance under more benign conditions; c) which genetic pathways are used repeatedly during adaptation; and d) what are the key steps in the formation of new species. The research plan combines genetic mapping, physiological assays, and field surveys with whole-genome scans at multiple spatial scales.