ORCC: Uniting long-term field experiments and modern genomics to prepare sustainable crops for the future

随着全球气候变暖，开花时间、动物迁徙、昆虫出现和其他春天的预兆平均比过去几个世纪提前了。然而，这些变化背后的遗传和环境驱动因素并不总是很清楚，时间变化的后果也不清楚。通过分析几十年来在几十个地点进行的向日葵田间试验，我们将评估特定植物基因型如何在不同的田间条件下生长、开花和结籽，以及它们的开花时间如何与环境相互作用以影响产量。然后，我们将使用详细的基因组信息来表征在不同气候条件下开花时间和表现的特定基因。这项研究将促进提高气候适应能力的育种，这对粮食安全和降低农业生产的环境成本至关重要。物候变化是对气候变化的最充分记录的生物特征反应。然而，这些变化的遗传基础及其适应性意义在模型系统之外很大程度上是未知的。我们的目标是量化物候对向日葵（Helianthus annuus L.）生长在不同野外环境中的植物性能的重要性，包括研究与关键气候变量相关的开花时间的可塑性；确定开花时间和可塑性的遗传变异；并将这些信息整合到向日葵育种项目中。在向日葵和其他物种中，开花时间（物候学）是由一个具有良好特征的基因网络调控的，这些基因网络在受控条件下对已知的环境和发育信号作出反应。我们的研究是在此基础上研究气候适应的遗传学，并将功能遗传信息转化为异质田间条件下植物性能的预测模型。利用50多年来在数十个田间地点种植的数千种基因型的产量、时间、基因组和性状数据，我们将评估关于整个基因网络如何在广泛的时空尺度上影响物候和适应性的假设。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。

As climate warms globally, flowering time, animal migrations, insect emergence, and other harbingers of spring occur earlier on average than in centuries past. However, the genetic and environmental drivers behind these changes is not always clear, nor are the consequences of shifts in timing. Analyzing decades of sunflower field trials across dozens of sites, we will evaluate how particular plant genotypes grow, flower, and set seed under varying field conditions, and how the timing of their flowering interacts with environment to affect yield. We will then use detailed genomic information to characterize the specific genes underlying flowering time and performance under a diversity of climate conditions. This research will facilitate breeding for improved climate resilience critical for food security and for reducing environmental costs of agricultural production. Phenological shifts are the most well-documented organismal trait response to climate change. However, the genetic underpinnings of these changes and their adaptive significance are largely unknown outside of model systems. We aim to quantify the importance of phenology to plant performance in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) grown in diverse field environments including examining the plasticity in timing of flowering associated with key climate variables; identifying the genetic variation underlying flowering time and plasticity; and incorporating that information into sunflower breeding programs. Flowering timing (phenology) is regulated by a well-characterized network of genes that respond to known environmental and developmental signals in controlled conditions in sunflowers and other species. Our research builds on this foundational work to investigate the genetics of climate adaptation and translate functional genetic information into predictive models of plant performance under heterogeneous field conditions. Using yield, timing, genomic, and trait data for thousands of genotypes planted in dozens of field sites over 5 decades, we will evaluate hypotheses about how an entire network of genes affects phenology and fitness across broad spatial and temporal scales.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.