The evolutionary ecology of cytonuclear interactions in flowering plants

许多植物在它们的线粒体中携带基因(细胞质雄性不育基因(CMS))，这些基因扰乱了花粉的产生，导致花朵只产生种子。然而，大多数花同时产生种子和花粉，因为植物的核(核雄性育性恢复者(RF))通常也携带基因，使花粉产生重新启动。我建议研究为什么使花粉产生恢复的核基因在一些植物种群中很常见，而在其他植物种群中很少见。我将重点了解为什么在某些环境中携带这些核男性生育恢复器是昂贵的，而在另一些环境中则不是。我的工作意义重大，因为打开花粉产生的核基因的分布对生殖隔离的进化有影响，从而影响植物的物种形成。此外，了解细胞质雄性不育基因与核雄性不育恢复系之间的相互作用具有重要的现实意义，因为这些基因允许植物育种者产生纯杂交种子供农民种植。

Many plant species carry genes in their mitochondria (cytoplasmic male sterility genes (CMS)) that disrupt pollen production and result in flowers that produce only seeds. However, most flowers produce both seeds and pollen because plants often also carry genes in their nucleus (nuclear male fertility restorers (Rf)) that turn pollen production back on. I propose to study why nuclear genes that turn pollen production back on are common in some plant populations and rare in others. I will focus on understanding why carrying these nuclear male fertility restorers is costly in some environments, but not in others. My work is significant because the distribution of nuclear genes that turn pollen production back on has implications for the evolution of reproductive isolation and thus speciation in plants. In addition, understanding interactions between cytoplasmic male sterility genes and nuclear male fertility restorers is of great practical importance because these genes allow plant breeders to produce pure hybrid seed for farmers to plant.