Dimensions: The causes and consequences of leaf trait evolution for hidden life on the phyllosphere: Phylogeny, function, and the genome

植物的敌人，如吃叶子的食草动物，或入侵和破坏植物组织的疾病，都被一系列为植物防御而进化的叶子特征所排斥。自然植物防御最成熟的形式之一是招募动物来保护植物免受敌人的攻击，以换取食物和/或庇护所。这些奖励特性可以大大减少植物的损害，但它们带来的好处可能会因条件而异，一些植物物种甚至会随着时间的推移而失去奖励特性。这项研究的重点是了解奖励性状进化的动态使用螨domatia（植物叶片上的小结构，房子有益螨）。在适当的情况下，螨住在domatia保护植物通过清洁叶面的微生物病原体和小型食草动物。在世界上大约24%的开花植物家族中，都发现了豆螨，并且在许多经济上重要的群体中发现，包括咖啡、樱桃和葡萄。葡萄（葡萄属）尤其有趣，因为一些物种具有保护叶子的含有螨的domatia，而其他物种，包括许多经济上最重要的葡萄物种，没有。这项研究利用野生葡萄品种中的自然变异来了解植物性状如何影响叶群落。 将确定植物成功利用有益螨群自然防御病原体和食草动物的遗传和环境背景。这项研究将有助于更好地了解葡萄、食草动物、有益节肢动物和叶片微生物之间的相互作用。数据将免费向公众传播，并有可能提高葡萄农业和育种，以及其他重要作物品种。该项目还将培养一名博士后研究员和研究生，掌握不同的领域和实验室方法和分析，并开发工具，更好地将研究成果融入本科生物学课程。该项目将研究叶片微结构如何影响葡萄属物种内部和之间的多营养叶圈群落，并研究叶圈动态如何反馈影响植物适应性。存在/不存在domatia和相关的叶性状变异将与非生物条件，遗传变异，叶微生物和节肢动物群落的后果，和植物的健身。研究人员将整合系统发育比较建模，生态位和范围重建，比较基因组学和大规模实地实验，以了解历史，生态，以及葡萄属物种多样化过程中叶片多囊壳性状变异的遗传原因和后果。该奖项反映了NSF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进行评估，被认为值得支持的搜索.

Plant enemies, such as herbivores that eat leaves, or diseases that invade and destroy plant tissue, are repelled by a suite of leaf traits that have evolved for plant defense. One of the most well-established forms of natural plant defenses are traits that recruit animals to defend the plant against its enemies in return for food and/or shelter. These reward traits can substantially reduce plant damage, but the benefits they confer can vary over different conditions, and some plant species have even evolved to lose reward-traits over time. This research focuses on understanding the dynamics of reward trait evolution using mite domatia (small structures on plant leaves that house beneficial mites). In the right context, mites housed in domatia protect the plant by cleaning the leaf surface of microbial pathogens and small herbivores. Mite domatia appear in ~24% the world's flowering plant families, and are found in many economically important groups, including coffee, cherries, and grapes. Grapes (genus Vitis), are especially interesting, as some species have mite-containing domatia that defend the leaves, while other species, including many of the most economically important grape species, do not. This research leverages the natural variation in domatia seen in wild grape species to understand how plant traits affect leaf communities. The genetic and environmental contexts in which plants successfully use beneficial mite populations to naturally defend themselves against pathogens and herbivores will be identified. The research will lead to a better understand of the interactions among grapes, their herbivores, beneficial arthropods, and the leaf microbiome. Data will be disseminated freely to the public and will have the potential to enhance grape agriculture and breeding, and potentially other important crop species. The project will also train a post-doctoral researcher and graduate student in diverse field and laboratory methods and analyses, and develop tools to better integrate research products in undergraduate biology classes.This project will examine how leaf micro-structure impacts multi-trophic phyllosphere communities within and across Vitis species, and will investigate how phyllosphere dynamics can feedback to impact plant fitness. The presence/absence of domatia and related leaf-trait variation will be linked to abiotic conditions, genetic variation, consequences for leaf microbial and arthropod communities, and plant fitness. The investigators will integrate phylogenetic comparative modeling, niche and range reconstruction, comparative genomics, and large-scale field experiments to understand the historical, ecological, and genetic causes and consequences of leaf domatia trait variation in the diversification of Vitis species.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.