IMAGiNE: The genetic, developmental, and physiological mechanisms of plant local adaptation to oceanic salt spray

IMAGiNE：植物局部适应海洋盐雾的遗传、发育和生理机制

• 批准号: 2153100
• 负责人: David Lowry
• 金额: $ 77.26万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-06-01 至 2025-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2153100&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IMAGiNE; genetic; developmental; physiological; mechanisms

A fundamental goal of biology is to understand how and why biological organisms evolve, from the level of genes to ecosystems. This research explores these evolutionary processes by studying the yellow monkeyflower, Mimulus guttatus, and how it adapts to oceanic salt spray. For a long time, scientists have known that salt spray influences which plant species can survive near the ocean. However, little is known about how plants evolve adaptations to live in coastal areas in the first place. The research focuses on understanding how coastal monkeyflower populations evolved to 1) avoid salt spray by remaining short and not flowering during windy periods, 2) resist salt spray by preventing it from entering plant tissues, and 3) tolerate salt spray by transporting salt to parts of the plant where it will cause the least amount of damage. Overall, this research should uncover multiple dimensions of these adaptations from the gene to the population level. The research will also result in the development of new tools for genetic engineering of monkeyflowers. Ultimately, the work will expand understanding of plant evolution and aspects of plant resilience in challenging environments, with potential applications for agricultural crops. The results of the research will be incorporated into educational materials, including a comic book and audio podcasts. To evaluate these educational materials, the investigators are working directly with teachers and hundreds of low-income minority high school students in Flint, MI through hands-on inquiry-based research.The proposed research aims to understand the genetic, developmental, morphological, and physiological mechanisms of local adaptation of the coastal perennial ecotype of Mimulus guttatus to oceanic salt spray. The extensive tools available for M. guttatus will facilitate studies of adaptation for multiple genes within gene networks. The research is divided into three aims, each of which is focused on a key component of salt spray adaptation: avoidance, resistance, and tolerance. Aim 1 is focused on understanding the mechanisms of locally adaptive salt spray avoidance by the coastal ecotype through the evolution of a compact growth form and a late-season flowering time. The research will test whether the developmental divergence between coastal and inland ecotypes underlying salt spray avoidance is caused by the evolution of genes within the gibberellin hormone gene network. Aim 2 will evaluate the role of morphological divergence between coastal and inland ecotypes in resistance to salt spray entry into plant tissues once it has landed on aerial plant organs. Aim 3 will evaluate the genetic and physiological mechanisms of salt spray tolerance once salt has entered aboveground plant tissues. Sodium transport at both the level of entire leaf organs and individual leaf cells will be examined to test the hypothesis that the coastal ecotype has higher tolerance by pumping sodium out of the cytosol into the apoplast and vacuoles. Overall, the research will lead to an increased understanding of how fitness in stressful environments is an emergent property of multiple complex organismal adaptations.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.

生物学的一个基本目标是了解生物有机体如何以及为什么进化，从基因水平到生态系统。本研究通过研究黄猴花，Mimulus guttatus，以及它如何适应海洋盐雾来探索这些进化过程。很长一段时间以来，科学家们已经知道盐雾会影响哪些植物物种能在海洋附近生存。然而，人们对植物是如何进化适应沿海地区生活的知之甚少。研究的重点是了解沿海猴花种群是如何进化的：1)通过在有风的季节保持矮小而不开花来避免盐雾；2)通过防止盐雾进入植物组织来抵抗盐雾；3)通过将盐输送到植物的部分来承受盐雾，从而造成最小的伤害。总的来说，这项研究应该揭示从基因到种群水平的这些适应的多个维度。这项研究还将导致开发猴花基因工程的新工具。最终，这项工作将扩大对植物进化和植物在具有挑战性的环境中恢复力方面的理解，并具有潜在的应用于农作物。研究结果将被纳入漫画书和音频播客等教育材料中。为了评估这些教育材料，调查人员直接与密歇根州弗林特市的教师和数百名低收入少数民族高中学生合作，通过实践探究性研究。本研究旨在了解海带多年生水杨（Mimulus guttatus）生态型对海洋盐雾的遗传、发育、形态和生理适应机制。可利用的广泛工具将促进对基因网络中多个基因的适应研究。这项研究分为三个目标，每个目标都集中在盐雾适应的一个关键组成部分：避免、抵抗和耐受。目标1的重点是了解沿海生态型通过紧凑生长形式和晚季开花时间的进化来适应局部盐雾的机制。该研究将测试沿海和内陆生态型之间的发育差异是否由赤霉素激素基因网络中的基因进化引起。目的2将评估沿海和内陆生态型之间的形态差异在抵抗盐雾进入植物组织中的作用，一旦盐雾降落在植物的空中器官上。目的3将评估盐进入地上植物组织后耐盐雾的遗传和生理机制。整个叶片器官和单个叶片细胞水平上的钠转运将被检验，以检验沿海生态型通过将钠从细胞质中泵入外质体和液泡具有更高耐受性的假设。总的来说，这项研究将使人们更加了解压力环境中的适应性是多种复杂生物体适应的一种新特性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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，被认为值得支持。