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

植物的结构，如花和果实，往往是通过组成部分的融合而形成的。例如，牵牛花的钟形花朵是五个花瓣融合的结果，而菠萝则是多个单独花朵的发育果实融合的结果。尽管器官融合对植物多样性的产生很重要，但在许多植物群体中，这一过程还没有得到充分的研究。该项目旨在以金银花(金银花属)为模型来了解融合的进化和遗传调控。金银花主要发现在北半球，包括大约180个物种，其中许多在它们的花和果实中表现出不同类型的融合。可以在成对的叶子、与花相关的小的叶状结构之间或相邻的果实之间观察到融合。这个项目将重建金银花的进化史，以确定在这个群体的进化过程中，融合发生了多少次--以及准确地说是如何发生的。然后，研究人员将研究控制该群体内多个物种融合的基因。该项目将首次对一组开花植物中的多个融合事件进行全面的进化和遗传分析。该项目将极大地增强广泛种植的植物群体的基因组资源，其中还包括蜜莓(Lonicera Caerulea)，这是一种因其果实中高抗氧化剂含量而种植的农作物。15名本科生、1名博士后研究员和1名研究生将接受不同实验室分析方面的培训，并获得在现场工作的经验。这项研究产生的植物学图像将为开发一个艺术展--植物交流与融合艺术--奠定基础，该展览将在新泽西学院的艺术馆和哈佛大学的阿诺德植物园展出。拟议的研究结合了系统基因组学、形态学和进化发展方法，以检验关于忍冬融合进化和帮助调节器官融合的基因的假说。研究人员将使用靶标浓缩下一代测序策略，为180个忍冬属物种中的至少130个物种重建强大的系统发育。然后，研究人员将记录和重建整个忍冬科植物的叶、小苞片和子房融合的进化模式，重点是一组22个局部物种的个体发育变化。融合的结构将被成像和量化，以确定每个物种的融合程度。最后，这个项目将研究金银花中类似NAM的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。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.