Phylogenetic investigation of Asparagus L. trait evolution, phylogeography and diversification

花园芦笋是芦笋属植物中200多个物种之一。野生芦笋的种类从南非的南端，整个欧洲到亚洲的东部，在生长形式和繁殖方式上表现出显着的变化。而花园芦笋是一个非木本物种肉质根，许多其他物种产生木质茎灌木或宿存藤蔓，还有其他物种产生土豆一样的块根。常见的花园芦笋有单独的产生花粉的雄性和结果的雌性植物，而它的大多数亲戚都是雌雄同体的-这意味着花既有雄性又有雌性部分。先前的假设表明，这种高水平的多样性是由于不断变化的环境条件而适应地理分布的结果。本研究的目的是确定何时，何地，在什么样的环境条件下，这种多样性的增长和繁殖策略出现在芦笋。研究人员将使用基因组方法来解决所有描述的芦笋物种之间的系统发育关系，然后确定生长形式和繁殖模式的变化如何与环境变化和地理传播相关。这些发现将允许概括植物如何适应未来不断变化的环境。这对国内芦笋的栽培和生产具有重要意义。例如，这些结果将为芦笋育种者提供信息，以帮助开发新品种，这些新品种可以在面对南加州日益严重的干旱或美国中西部和东北部潮湿环境中的真菌病原体的情况下茁壮成长。并阐明其动态的地理历史和适应不同的环境条件。芦笋（A. officinalis）已经是薯蓣属植物进化的模型。该项目将扩大我们对芦笋性状多样性进化的理解，包括贮藏根的形式，芽的结构和脱落，光合茎代替叶子的发育，以及叶子转化为具有不同形式和功能的减少的非光合鳞片和刺。整合物种水平的基因组学，环境数据和表型组学，我们将测试在过去的5-10万年里一直推动芦笋多样化的遗传，生态和进化过程之间的相互作用。新的图像分析方法，已开发的种内高通量表型将扩展到模型宏观进化的变化，在拍摄和根结构。这些发展将推动物种内和种间生物多样性的新研究路线。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。

Garden asparagus is one of more than two hundred species within the plant genus Asparagus. Wild Asparagus species range from the southern tip of South Africa, throughout Europe to the eastern reaches of Asia, and exhibit remarkable variation in growth forms and modes of reproduction. Whereas garden asparagus is a non-woody species with fleshy roots, many other species produce woody stems as bushes or persistent vines, and still other species produce potato-like tuberous root. The familiar garden asparagus has separate pollen-producing male and fruit-bearing female plants, whereas most of its relatives are hermaphroditic - meaning the flower has both male and female parts combined. Previous hypotheses suggest that this high level of diversity is the result of adaptation to geographic spread due to changing environmental conditions. The objective of this research is to determine when, where and under what environmental conditions this diversity of growth and reproduction strategies arose within Asparagus. The researchers will use genomic methods to resolve the phylogenetic relationships among all described Asparagus species and then determine how changes in growth form and mode of reproduction correlate with environmental changes and biogeographic spread. The findings will allow generalizations for modeling how plants may adapt to changing environments in the future. This, in turn, will be significant to cultivation and production of domestic Asparagus. For example, the results will provide asparagus breeders information to help develop new varieties that can thrive in the face of increasing droughts in Southern California or fungal pathogens in the moist environments of the Midwest and Northeastern U.S.State-of-the-art genomic, phenotyping and modeling approaches will be utilized to develop a robust, comprehensive phylogeny for the genus Asparagus, and to elucidate its dynamic biogeographic history and adaptations to varied environmental conditions. Garden asparagus (A. officinalis) is already a model for the evolution of dioecy. This project will expand our understanding of the evolution of trait diversity in Asparagus to include storage root form, shoot architecture and deciduousness, the development of photosynthetic stems in place of leaves, and the transformation of leaves into reduced, non-photosynthetic scales and thorns with diverse forms and functions. Integrating species-level phylogenomics, environmental data, and phenomics, we will test for interactions among the genetic, ecological and evolutionary processes that have been driving diversification within Asparagus over the last 5-10 million years. Novel methods of image analysis that have been developed for intraspecific high-throughput phenotyping will be expanded to model macroevolutionary changes in shoot and root architecture. These developments will propel new lines of research on both within species and interspecific biodiversity.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.