The evolutionary ecology of cytonuclear interactions in flowering plants

许多植物在其线粒体中携带基因（细胞质雄性不育基因（CMS）），这些基因破坏花粉的产生，导致花只产生种子。然而，大多数花既能产生种子又能产生花粉，因为植物的细胞核中通常也携带着重新产生花粉的基因（核雄性生殖恢复器（Rf））。我建议研究为什么使花粉产生恢复的核基因在某些植物种群中很常见，而在其他植物种群中却很少见。我将专注于理解为什么携带这些核雄性生殖恢复体在某些环境中是昂贵的，而在其他环境中则不然。我的工作意义重大，因为使花粉生产恢复的核基因的分布对植物生殖隔离的进化和物种形成有影响。此外，了解细胞质雄性不育基因与核雄性育性恢复系之间的相互作用具有重要的实际意义，因为这些基因使植物育种家能够生产出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.