BRC-BIO: Using the genus Aquilegia to develop a multidisciplinary approach to study the evolution and ecology of nectar variation

大多数开花植物依靠动物传粉者繁殖。考虑到吸引传粉者对完成其生命周期的重要性，许多植物已经进化到产生花蜜，由糖和其他营养成分组成，作为对传粉者的奖励。不同的动物传粉者（如蜜蜂、鸟类或飞蛾）有不同的代谢需求，以前的研究表明，适应不同传粉者的植物产生的花蜜的数量和生化成分各不相同。然而，人们对控制这种花蜜产生变化的基因知之甚少。本研究将密切相关的植物产生的花蜜成分的生化分析与遗传分析相结合，以确定控制花蜜量和生物化学变化的基因。由于大约35%的农作物依赖动物传粉，因此确定控制花蜜变异重要方面的基因有助于提高花蜜质量和授粉效率，从而提高作物产量。此外，这项工作为培养本科生和硕士生在基因组学、代谢组学和生物信息学等领域进行动手研究提供了大量机会，为攻读高级学位或在STEM领域获得职业做准备。植物与传粉者的相互作用是植物与动物传粉者之间的花多样化的驱动力，对花的性状进化产生强烈的选择作用，有助于生殖隔离和物种形成。先前对植物适应动物传粉者的关注主要集中在形态特征上，如颜色和形状。然而，花蜜在传粉媒介的适应中起着重要的作用，并受到遗传和环境过程的共同调节。关于影响花蜜性状变异的遗传和环境因素仍有许多有待发现，很少有研究在研究不同动物传粉者对花蜜的适应性时纳入代谢组学数据。本研究将：1)利用发育分析、转录组学和代谢组学相结合的方法，描述四种适应不同动物传粉者（如蜜蜂、蜂鸟、鹰蛾）的Aquilegia物种的花蜜特征；2)利用高分辨率遗传作图技术，确定适应不同动物传粉者的近亲类群A. formosa（蜂鸟）和A. pubescens（鹰蛾）之间花蜜特征（包括代谢物）变异的控制位点；3)结合野外种群和控制条件下的研究，探讨温度和湿度等环境因素如何影响两种水仙的花蜜产量和组成。总之，这些研究将是迄今为止实施的最全面的分析，以探索影响植物系统中花蜜代谢组学变异进化的遗传和环境因素，该系统以其对不同动物传粉者的适应性而闻名。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。

Most flowering plants rely on animal pollinators to reproduce. Given the importance of attracting pollinators in order to complete their life cycle, many plants have evolved to produce floral nectar, composed of sugars and other nutrients that serves as a reward for pollinators. Different animal pollinators (e.g., bees, birds, or moths) have different metabolic needs, and previous work has shown that plants adapted to different pollinators vary in the amount and the biochemical composition of the nectar that they produce. However, little is known about the genes that control this variation in nectar production. This work combines biochemical profiling of nectar components produced by closely related plants that have adapted to different pollinators with genetic analyses in order to identify the genes that control variation in nectar volume and biochemistry. As around 35% of agricultural crops rely on animal pollinators, identifying genes that control important aspects of nectar variation could help improve nectar quality and pollination efficiency to increase crop production. In addition, this work provides numerous opportunities to train both undergraduate and master’s students to conduct hands on research in fields such as genomics, metabolomics, and bioinformatics in preparation to pursue advanced degrees or obtain careers in STEM fields.Plant-pollinator interactions are a driving force of floral diversification with animal pollinators, exerting strong selection on floral trait evolution that can contribute to reproductive isolation and speciation. Prior focus on floral adaptation to animal pollinators has largely focused on morphological traits such as color and shape. However, floral nectar plays an important role in pollinator adaptation, and is regulated by both genetic and environmental processes. Much remains to be discovered about the genetic and environmental factors influencing nectar trait variation and very few studies have incorporated metabolomic data when examining nectar adaptation to different animal pollinators. This research will: 1) describe nectar characteristics of four Aquilegia species adapted to different animal pollinators (e.g., bee, hummingbird, hawk moth) using a combination of developmental assays, transcriptomics, and metabolomics; 2) use high-resolution genetic mapping to identify loci controlling variation in nectar characteristics, including metabolites, between closely related taxa adapted to different animal pollinators, A. formosa (hummingbird) and A. pubescens (hawk moth); and 3) explore how environmental factors such as temperature and humidity affect nectar production and composition in two Aquilegia species using a combination of studies in wild populations and under controlled conditions. Together, these investigations will be the most comprehensive set of analyses yet implemented to explore the genetic and environmental factors influencing the evolution of nectar metabolomic variation in a plant system known for its floral adaptations to different animal pollinators.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.