NSF-DEB-RAPID: Evolution of reproductive barriers in long-lived conifers

了解物种形成的潜在机制是进化生物学的一个基本目标，对快速变化的景观中的保护和物种管理具有直接影响。这项研究旨在了解长寿针叶树Torrey Pine是如何进化出繁殖障碍的，Torrey Pine是世界上最稀有的松之一。由于仅限于两个离散的种群，一个大陆种群和一个岛屿种群，这项研究使用了一种特别令人兴奋的方法，通过对共同环境中的植物表型和适应性特征的纵向监测，来了解长寿物种的生殖障碍的进化。成立于2007年的大陆、岛屿和第一代杂交苗木代表了由大陆花粉捐赠者授粉的岛屿母本植物，在圣巴巴拉植物园的单一共同环境中种植。对这些树的年度监测表明，在公共环境中作为杂交种具有优势，杂交种比亲本树更高，繁殖力也更强。然而，这一优势是否会在后代中保持仍然是一个问题，这将为我们提供对导致生殖隔离的机制的洞察。这项研究将研究那些定义物种的因素，并将对稀有、特有物种的保护和管理产生影响。该项目将为本科生和研究生提供现场和数据库管理知识。此外，该项目将汇集来自政府(美国农业部-森林服务局)、非政府组织(圣巴巴拉植物园)和研究机构的合作伙伴，以促进这些遗传资源的长期保存，这些遗传资源具有基本的科学和应用保护价值，并具有教育影响。这个快速项目将资助长期试验Torrey Pine(Torreana)的数据和组织的收集，Torrey Pine(Torreana)是一种罕见的、地方性的加州针叶树，种植在加利福尼亚州圣巴巴拉的圣巴巴拉植物园。该项目的目标将是(I)收集球果，以便在加利福尼亚州普莱瑟维尔森林遗传研究所的集装箱公共花园中进行加工和种植，(Ii)收集针叶组织，用于长期储存和基因组学工作，以及(Iii)评估特征和形态数据，以用于未来与基因组数据的关联分析。公共花园地产可能很快就会上市出售，这可能会限制进入大陆、岛屿和F1的个人，这些人成立于2007年，现在才开始繁殖并产生F2代。因此，这笔资金提供了一个采样组织和收集数据的机会，为开发一个更长期的Torrey Pine项目提供了机会，该项目旨在了解长期存活的针叶树种群差异进化的基因组和表型结构。

Understanding the mechanisms underlying speciation is a fundamental aim of evolutionary biology with direct implications to conservation and species management in a rapidly changing landscape. This research aims to understand how barriers to reproduction have evolved in a long-lived conifer, Torrey Pine, one of the rarest pines in the world. With a restricted distribution to just two discrete populations, a mainland population and an island population, this research uses a particularly exciting approach to understand the evolution of reproductive barriers in a long-lived species using longitudinal monitoring of plant phenotypes and fitness characteristics within a common environment. Established in 2007, mainland, island and first-generation hybrid seedlings representing island maternal plants fertilized by mainland pollen donors were planted into a single common environment at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Annual monitoring of these trees suggests there is an advantage to being a hybrid in the common environment, with hybrids taller and exhibiting increased fecundity relative to parent trees. However, whether this advantage is maintained across future generations remains a question, which will provide insight into mechanisms that contribute to reproductive isolation. This research will study those factors that define a species, and will have conservation and management implications for rare, endemic species. This project will provide field and database management exposure for students at the undergraduate and graduate level. In addition, this project will bring together partners from governmental (USDA-Forest Service), non-governmental (Santa Barbara Botanic Garden) and research institutions to promote the long-term preservation of these genetic resources, which have fundamental scientific and applied conservation value, and educational impact.This RAPID project will fund a collection of data and tissue from a long-term provenance trial of Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana), a rare, endemic California conifer planted at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in Santa Barbara, California. The objectives of the project will be to (i) collect cones for processing and planting within a containerized common garden at the Institute of Forest Genetics in Placerville, CA, (ii) collect needle tissue for long-term storage and genomics work, and (iii) assess trait and morphological data for future association analyses with genomic data. The common garden property may be listed for sale shortly, which could restrict access to the mainland, island, and F1 individuals that were established in 2007 and that are only now reproductive and producing an F2 generation. Therefore, this funding provides an opportunity to sample tissue and collect data for the development of a longer term Torrey pine project which will aim to understand the genomic and phenotypic architecture underlying the evolution of population differences in a long-lived conifer.