Collaborative Proposal: Testing mechanisms and consequences of W chromosome turnover in a dynamic plant system

这项研究将检验决定个体是男性还是女性的基因和染色体进化理论。该项目将确定导致栽培草莓野生祖先性别决定基因染色体位置变化的过程。这项工作将推进我们对这些变化如何影响基因功能和整株植物生长和繁殖的认识。了解基因在染色体上的排列方式将扩大我们对不同基因位置对花卉和水果发育影响的认识，并将为确保粮食安全的农业实践提供信息。教育和推广活动将把这项研究所获得的知识带给公众，并有助于中学和高中学生的课程开发。性别的遗传决定在真核生物中广泛存在，进化动力学可以超越广泛的分类学界限。决定性别的染色体对或性别决定基因位置的变化可能是表型二型性、适应性变异和物种形成的重要驱动力。这项研究将测试四个主要的假设机制，以及W染色体周转的表型后果。这项工作将利用四倍体野生草莓（草莓属），其中已观察到基于易位的营业额，使预测模式的基因组指纹（连锁不平衡和功能多态性的变化）特征的每个营业额机制的测试。这项工作将使用高通量测序，分子进化分析，遗传连锁图谱，转录组学和表型评估的组合。这项研究将深入了解染色体进化的关键动态，并揭示基因组重组机制，该机制也是影响复杂表型，适应和物种形成的其他超基因进化的基础。这项工作将通过扩大染色体重排对栽培草莓重要野生亲缘植物生态耐受性的影响的知识来为社会做出贡献。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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而被认为值得支持。

This research will test theories of the evolution of the genes and chromosomes that determine whether individuals are male or female. The project will identify processes that lead to changes in the chromosomal location of sex-determining genes in wild ancestors of the cultivated strawberry. The work will advance our knowledge of how these changes affect gene function and whole-plant growth and reproduction. Understanding how genes are arranged on chromosomes will expanding our knowledge of the effects of varied gene location on flower and fruit development, and will inform agricultural practices that ensure food security. Educational and outreach activities will bring knowledge gained by this research to the general public, and contribute to curriculum development for middle school and high school students.Genetic determination of sex is widespread across eukaryotes and the evolutionary dynamics can transcend wide taxonomic boundaries. Changes in either the chromosome pair that determines sex or the location of the sex-determining genes can be an important driver of phenotypic dimorphism, adaptive variation, and speciation. The research will test four leading hypothesized mechanisms for, and phenotypic consequences of, turnover in the W chromosome. The work will leverage the octoploid wild strawberry (Fragaria) where translocation-based turnover has been observed, enabling tests of predicted patterns of genomic fingerprints (changes in linkage disequilibrium and function polymorphisms) characteristic of each turnover mechanism. The work will use a combination of high-throughput sequencing, molecular evolutionary analysis, genetic linkage mapping, transcriptomics, and phenotypic assessment. The research will provide insight into a key dynamic of chromosomal evolution and shed light on a genomic restructuring mechanism that also underlies the evolution of other supergenes affecting complex phenotypes, adaptation, and speciation. The work will contribute to society by expanding knowledge of the effects of chromosomal rearrangement on ecological tolerances in important wild relatives of the cultivated strawberry.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.