MCF: Measuring the Cost of Resistance in Transgenic and Wild Plants

测量食草动物抵抗的内在成本 植物是重要的，无论是评估潜力， 改造基因，使其能够逃逸并在环境中持续存在， 来理解自然选择如何作用于防御资源 在自然植物种群中的分布。 这项研究将适用于 两种测试抗性成本的遗传学方法 假说. 一、抗病基因对植物生长的影响 和资源分配将通过比较 转基因食草植物的性能 与遗传相似的对照植物的抗性 背景 这项工作将与 帝国理工学院（Silkwood Park）的PROSAMO研究小组， 由迈克尔·J·克劳利博士领导 二、校长 研究人员将测试以下人群之间的负遗传相关性： 化学防御、生长和繁殖， 草食动物，并检查选择对防御生产的影响 在一种普通杂草（车前）的自然种群中。 这项工作将与Deane Bowers博士合作完成， 科罗拉多大学，将是第一个研究， 将数量遗传分析应用于植物的化学分析 从自然人口。

Measuring the intrinsic cost of herbivore resistance in plants is important both for assessing the potential for engineered genes to escape and persist in the environment, and for understanding how natural selection acts on defense resource allocation in natural plant populations. This study will apply two genetic approaches to testing the cost of resistance hypothesis. First, the impact of resistance gene on plant growth and resource allocation will be examined by comparing the performance of plants genetically transformed for herbivore resistance with that of control plants of similar genetic backgrounds. This work will be done in collaboration with the PROSAMO research group at Imperial College (Silkwood Park), headed by Dr. Michael J. Crawley. Second, the principal investigator will test for negative genetic correlations among chemical defenses, growth, and reproduction in the absence of herbivores, and examine selection effects on defense production in natural populations of a common weed (Plantago lanceolata). This work, to be done in collaboration with Dr. Deane Bowers at the University of Colorado, will be one of the first studies to apply quantitative genetic analysis to chemical assays of plants from natural populations.