The Molecular Basis of Local Adaptation in Arabidopsis thaliana

项目摘要 今天生物学面临的最重要的挑战之一是理解遗传变异。联合国- 了解基因变异如何转化为表型变异以及它是如何在 种群是我们理解进化的基础，并具有巨大的实际意义 为了人类健康，也为了农业和环境保护。这个项目的长期目标是 通过对花卉的研究，增加我们对适应性变异的分子遗传基础的理解。 在A.thaliana的ING时间。研究的重点是开花对寒冷温度的反应，即所谓的春季- 分化，这是植物用来确保它们在正确的时间开花的主要机制之一， 在合适的季节。该项目试图描述潜在的变异的遗传结构 并将在分子水平上确定所涉及的主要基因和等位基因。自适应的 已确定的多态的意义将在田间试验中确定。该项目有三个项目-- 科学目标：首先，定位在不同地区采集的植物之间导致变异的基因。 这个世界。作图将使用传统连锁作图方法的组合来完成 以及所谓的全基因组关联扫描，其中使用现代基因分型技术来调查 为了识别出现的基因组区域，人群样本中存在大量的多态 在统计学上与这一特征相关。第二，分子遗传学将被用来表征 已鉴定的等位基因和基因座。第三，将分析已识别的基因座及其周围的变异模式。 以阐明该基因座上的选择历史。项目叙事 今天生物学面临的最重要的挑战之一是理解遗传变异是如何发生的-- 个体之间的差异转化为我们可以看到或测量的差异，就像人类的血压一样，或者 水稻的耐旱性。这个项目的目的是增加我们对一般原理的理解。 这是通过研究模式植物的开花时间来研究适应性自然变异的遗传学基础 Tale cress(拟南芥)。重点放在开花对寒冷温度的反应上，即所谓的 春化，这是植物用来确保它们在正确的位置开花的主要机制之一 时间，在合适的季节。

Project Summary One of the most important challenges facing biology today is making sense of genetic variation. Un- derstanding how genotypic variation translates into phenotypic variation and how it is structured in populations is fundamental to our understanding of evolution, and has enormous practical implications for human health as well as for agriculture and conservation. The long-term objective of this project is to increase our understanding of the molecular genetic basis for adaptive variation by studying flower- ing time in A. thaliana. The focus is on the flowering response to cold temperatures, so-called vernal- ization, which is one of the major mechanisms plants use to ensure that they flower at the right time, during the right season. The project seeks to describe the genetic architecture underlying variation for this trait, and will identify, at the molecular level, the major genes and alleles involved. The adaptive significance of the identified polymorphisms will be determined in field trials. The project has three spe- cific aims: First, to map the genes responsible for variation between plants collected in different parts of the world. The mapping will be done using a combination of traditional linkage mapping methods and so-called genome-wide association scans, in which modern genotyping technology is used to survey massive amounts polymorphisms in population samples in order to identify genomic regions that appear to be statistically associated with the trait. Second, molecular genetics will be used to characterize the identified alleles and loci. Third, the pattern of variation in and around identified loci will be analyzed in order to elucidate the history of selection on the loci. Project Narrative One of the most important challenges facing biology today is understanding how genetic variation be- tween individuals translates into variation we can see or measure, like blood pressure in humans, or drought tolerance in rice. The goal of this project is to increase our understand of the general principles that underlie the genetics of adaptive natural variation by studying flowering time in the model plant thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana). The focus is on the flowering response to cold temperatures, so-called vernalization, which is one of the major mechanisms plants use to ensure that they flower at the right time, during the right season.