Collaborative Research: Honeysuckle phylogenomics and the evolution of organ fusion (Lonicera, Caprifoliaceae)

植物的结构，如花和果实，通常是通过各组成部分的融合而形成的。例如，牵牛花的钟形花是五个花瓣融合的结果，而菠萝则是多个花朵的果实融合的结果。尽管器官融合对植物多样性的产生很重要，但这一过程在许多植物类群中研究不足。 本项目旨在以金银花为模型，了解融合的进化和遗传调控。金银花主要分布在北方半球，约有180个品种，其中许多品种的花和果实具有不同的融合类型。融合可以在成对的叶子之间、与花相关的小叶状结构之间或相邻的果实之间观察到。该项目将重建金银花的进化历史，以确定在该群体的进化过程中发生了多少次-以及确切的融合方式。然后，研究人员将调查控制群体内多个物种融合的基因。该项目将提供一组开花植物中多个融合事件的第一个全面的进化和遗传分析。该项目将极大地增加广泛种植的植物群体的基因组资源，其中还包括蜂蜜（蜜橘），一种因其果实中的高抗氧化剂含量而种植的作物。15名本科生，一名博士后研究员和一名研究生将接受不同实验室分析的培训，并获得现场工作经验。从这项研究中产生的植物图像将成为开发艺术展览的基础，植物交流和融合的艺术，将在新泽西学院的美术馆和哈佛大学的阿诺德植物园展出。拟议的研究结合了植物基因组，形态，和进化发育的方法来测试的假设，在融合的进化，并帮助调节器官融合的基因。研究人员将使用目标富集的下一代测序策略，为180个物种中的至少130个物种重建一个强大的基因组。然后，研究人员将记录和重建整个马蹄莲叶，小苞片和子房融合的进化模式，重点是一组22个焦点物种的个体发育变化。将对融合结构进行成像和定量，以确定每个物种的融合程度。最后，该项目将检查整个Pakerera的NAM样融合基因的系统发育历史和表达，以确定形态变化和基因表达变化之间的相关性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Plant structures such as flowers and fruits often develop through the fusion of component parts. For instance, the bell-shaped flower of a morning glory is the result of the fusion of five petals, while a pineapple results from the fusion of the developing fruits of multiple individual flowers. Despite organ fusion being important for generating diversity in plants, the process is understudied in many plant groups. This project aims to understand the evolution and genetic regulation of fusion using honeysuckles (genus Lonicera) as a model. Found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, honeysuckles include approximately 180 species, many of which exhibit different types of fusion within their flowers and fruits. Fusion can be observed across pairs of leaves, between small leaf-like structures associated with the flowers, or among adjacent fruits. This project will reconstruct the evolutionary history of honeysuckles to determine how many times -- and precisely how -- fusion has occurred during the evolution of the group. Researchers will then investigate the genes that control fusion in multiple species within the group. This project will provide the first comprehensive evolutionary and genetic analysis of multiple fusion events within a group of flowering plants. The project will greatly enhance genomic resources for a widely cultivated group of plants, which also includes honeyberry (Lonicera caerulea), a crop plant grown for the high antioxidant content of its fruit. Fifteen undergraduates, a post-doctoral researcher and a graduate student will be trained in diverse laboratory analyses and gain experience working in a field setting. The botanical images produced from this research will form the foundation for developing an art exhibit, Plant Communication and the Art of Fusion, which will be displayed in the Art Gallery at The College of New Jersey and at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.The proposed research combines phylogenomic, morphological, and evolutionary-developmental approaches to test hypotheses on the evolution of fusion in Lonicera and the genes that help regulate organ fusion. The researchers will reconstruct a robust phylogeny for at least 130 of the 180 species of Lonicera using a target-enrichment next-generation sequencing strategy. Researchers will then document and reconstruct the evolutionary patterns of leaf, bracteole, and ovary fusion throughout Lonicera, with an emphasis on ontogenetic changes in a set of 22 focal species. Fused structures will be imaged and quantified to determine the extent of fusion in each species. Finally, this project will examine the phylogenetic history and expression of NAM-like fusion genes across Lonicera to identify correlations between changes in morphology and changes in gene expression.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.