RoL: RUI: Collaborative Research: Understanding the Ecological and Genomic Bases of Local Adaptation in an Obligate Pollination Mutualism

RoL：RUI：合作研究：了解专性授粉互惠中局部适应的生态和基因组基础

基本信息

批准号：
2001180
负责人：
Jeremy Yoder
金额：
$ 43.67万
依托单位：
The University Corporation, Northridge
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2020-07-01 至 2025-06-30
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2001180&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
RoL RUI Collaborative Research Understanding

项目摘要

All living things must manage stress from their environment and interactions with other living things. Biologists have long believed that interactions with predators, competitors, and helpful mutualists are a powerful force in the history of life, helping to spur the formation of new species. However, it is difficult to test whether interactions between living things have been more important than the effects of the physical environment like heat, freezing, or drought. This project makes that comparison by taking advantage of a unique interaction between species that live in the extreme environments of the Mojave Desert. Joshua trees, the spikey, twisted-looking trees found across the Mojave, cannot produce fruit without the help of yucca moths. Joshua tree flowers appear to be adapted to the moths, but the trees also experience extreme heat and drought, and it seems likely that these effects of the physical, nonliving environment also impact their survival. The Joshua Tree Genome Project will use genetic sequencing and experiments with Joshua tree seedlings to study how the trees cope with different climates in different parts of the desert. The project collaborators can then compare the effects of climate on Joshua tree populations to the effects of their interaction with yucca moths. The team will also engage volunteers and science teachers across the Mojave region to measure and monitor Joshua tree populations in their own backyards. By examining the Joshua tree's adaptation to climate in detail for the first time, this project will help to answer a longstanding question in the history of life on Earth — whether interactions between living things or the physical environment have been more important — and develop scientific tools and community partnerships that can help protect Joshua trees under changing future climates.The Joshua Tree Genome Project is a collaboration of ecologists, geneticists, bioinformaticians, and plant physiologists at Willamette University, California State University Northridge, the Universities of Alabama and Hawaii, and the US Geological Survey Western Ecological Research Center. The collaborators will plant Joshua tree seedlings at common-garden sites around the Mojave, monitor their growth and physiological performance, and use RNA sequencing to identify genes that are differentially expressed in different climates. The team will complete a Joshua tree reference genome and use it with the gene expression results to design a sequence capture array for targeted sequencing of hundreds of trees. Targeted sequencing will allow them to perform genome-wide association study (GWAS) of physiological traits that contribute to seedlings’ survival and performance in the common gardens, and of floral traits related to pollination by yucca moths. The team will then use landscape genomic analyses to identify genes showing signatures of local adaptation to variation in climate and moth traits. Meanwhile, the team will expand a participatory science program working with Mojave-regional conservation nonprofits and K-12 educators to train volunteers to survey the demography of Joshua tree populations, recording how many trees flower and produce fruit, and how many young trees are present to renew the population. Finally, the team will use the results of their genetic analyses to build a genomic prediction protocol that can project the physiological and pollination-related traits of a Joshua tree population from genetic data alone. The team will use this protocol to predict the traits of trees at sites profiled by volunteer surveys, and test for relationships between populations’ predicted trait values and their demographic health. This will allow them to identify specific traits that influence the fitness of Joshua trees in current conditions, and would provide a tool to assess the resilience of Joshua tree populations in future climates.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.

所有生物都必须从环境中管理压力，并与其他生物互动。生物学家长期以来一直认为，与捕食者，竞争对手和有益的共同主义者的互动是生活史上的强大力量，有助于刺激新物种的形成。但是，很难测试生物之间的相互作用是否比诸如热，冷冻或干旱之类的物理环境的影响更重要。该项目通过利用生活在莫哈韦沙漠的极端环境中的物种之间的独特相互作用来进行比较。约书亚树（Joshua Trees）是莫哈韦（Mojave）的尖峰，扭曲的树木，如果没有丝兰飞蛾的帮助，就无法产生水果。约书亚树的花朵似乎适应了飞蛾，但是树木也经历了极端的热量和干旱，物理，非生命环境的这些影响似乎也影响了它们的生存。约书亚树基因组项目将使用Joshua树幼苗进行遗传测序和实验，以研究树木如何应对沙漠不同地区的不同气候。然后，项目合作者可以将气候对约书亚树种群的影响与与丝兰飞蛾互动的影响进行比较。该团队还将与莫哈韦地区的志愿者和科学老师互动，以衡量和监视自己后院的约书亚树人群。通过检查约书亚树第一次详细攀登，该项目将有助于回答地球生活史上的一个长期问题 - 无论生物或物理环境之间的互动是否更重要，是否更重要 - 发展科学工具和社区伙伴关系，这些工具和社区伙伴关系可以帮助约翰·约瑟（Joshua莫哈韦（Mojave），监测其生长和生理性能，并使用RNA测序来识别在不同气候中不同表达的基因。该团队将完成约书亚树参考基因组，并将其与基因表达结果一起使用，以设计一个序列捕获阵列，以实现数百棵树的靶向测序。有针对性的测序将使他们能够对全基因组关联研究（GWAS）进行物理特征研究，这些研究有助于呈现种子在普通花园中的生存和性能，以及与丝兰飞蛾授粉相关的花卉特征。然后，团队将使用景观基因组分析来识别显示局部适应气候和飞蛾特征变化的签名的基因。同时，团队将扩大与莫哈韦区域保护非营利组织和K-12教育者一起培训志愿者来调查约书亚树木人群的人群，记录多少树木花和生产水果的人群，以及有多少幼树来续签人群的人群。最后，团队将使用其遗传分析的结果来构建一种基因组预测方案，该方案可以单独从遗传数据中投射约书亚树群的物理和授粉相关特征。该团队将使用该协议来预测志愿者调查所构图的站点的树木特征，并测试人口预测的特质值及其人口统计学健康之间的关系。这将使他们能够确定影响约书亚树在当前条件下适应性的特定特征，并将提供一种工具，以评估未来的气候中约书亚树木种群的韧性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识分子和更广泛的影响来审查审查标准来通过评估来诚实地通过评估来诚实地支持。