Collaborative Research: SG: Exploring the effects of UV light on floral pigmentation

植物经历许多压力，包括极端温度，干旱和紫外线（UV）光。紫外线对DNA和蛋白质有害。在开花植物中，花粉特别容易受到紫外线的伤害，但花瓣中的深色色素可以通过吸收紫外线来保护花粉。到达地球的紫外线强度在世纪大大增加，并可能继续增加，特别是在某些地区。该项目探讨了花朵中的保护性色素是否随着紫外线的增加而增加。 因为花的颜色对于吸引传粉者很重要，所以了解它是如何变化的对于了解传粉的有效性也可能发生变化是必要的。 反过来，农药的有效性对许多农作物的经济成功和所有开花植物的生态健康都很重要。该项目还将为来自代表性不足群体的学生提供研究经验和指导，并将通过在多个活动中开展外联活动吸引公众参与，研究人员将测试UV-B辐射的时间增加导致花瓣中吸收紫外线的色素增加的预测。由于在上个世纪，紫外线B在极地和温带地区增加最多，他们预测，极地和温带分布的物种将比亚热带物种显示出更大的紫外线吸收色素增加。此外，研究人员还将测试这样一种预测，即花粉结构暴露在阳光下的物种会对UV-B的变化做出反应，而那些花粉结构嵌入花朵（受保护）的物种则不会。研究人员将利用植物标本馆标本和生物气候数据库收集75种不同地理分布的不同类群的花色素和非生物条件的数据。他们还将在55年的时间跨度内对颜色进行采样，并将使用比较模型来评估UV-B的快速变化是否引起了花卉颜色的快速变化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Plants experience many stresses, including extreme temperatures, drought, and ultraviolet (UV) light. UV light is a harmful to DNA and proteins. In flowering plants, pollen is particularly susceptible to UV damage, but dark pigments in flower petals may protect the pollen by absorbing UV light. The intensity of UV light reaching Earth has increased greatly during the 20th century and may continue to increase, especially in some regions. This project explores whether protective pigmentation in flowers has increased in response to increasing amounts of UV light. Because flower color is important for attracting pollinators, understanding how it may have changed is necessary to understand how effectiveness of pollination may also have changed. Pollination effectiveness, in turn, is important for the economic success of many agricultural crops and for the ecological well-being of all flowering plants. This project will also provide research experiences and mentoring for students from underrepresented groups, and will engage the general public through outreach activities at multiple events.Researchers will test the prediction that temporal increases in UV-B radiation have driven increases in UV-absorbing pigmentation in the petals of flowers. Because UV-B has increased most in polar and temperate regions during the last century, they predict that species with polar and temperate distributions will display larger increases in UV-absorbing pigmentation than sub-tropical species. Additionally, the researchers will test the prediction that species with pollen-bearing structures exposed to sunlight will respond to changes in UV-B, while those with pollen structures recessed within the flower (protected) will not. Researchers will use herbarium specimens and bioclimatic databases to gather data on flower pigmentation and abiotic conditions for 75 diverse taxa with different geographic distributions. They will also sample color across a 55-year time span and will use comparative models to assess whether rapid changes in UV-B have elicited rapid change in flower coloration.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.