The evolutionary ecology of cytonuclear interactions in flowering plants

许多植物物种在线粒体中携带基因（细胞质雄性不育基因（CMS）），这些基因会破坏花粉的产生，导致花朵只产生种子。然而，大多数花产生种子和花粉，因为植物通常也携带在其细胞核基因（核雄性育性恢复（Rf）），把花粉生产backon.I建议研究为什么核基因，把花粉生产回来是常见的在一些植物种群和罕见的其他。我将专注于理解为什么携带这些核雄性生育恢复剂在某些环境中是昂贵的，但在其他环境中则不然。我的工作意义重大，因为使花粉产生重新启动的核基因的分布对生殖隔离的进化以及植物的物种形成有影响。此外，了解细胞质雄性不育基因和核雄性育性恢复基因之间的相互作用具有重要的实际意义，因为这些基因允许植物育种家生产纯的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.