Dissertation Research: Seedling Traits in Collinsia verna

理解自然进化的过程 选择取决于对两种机制的理解， 组成过程：1）差异生存和/或 与性状相关的个体繁殖力 2）这些特征在多大程度上 都是遗传的 继承是一个过程， 每个人接受每个基因的两个拷贝， 基因影响表达的程度 一种特质 母系遗传是一种特殊情况， 母亲通过自己的基因可以直接影响 在她的后代身上表现出一种特征。 这种母体 效果与她传递给她的基因无关 后代 这项研究是新颖的，因为它将 调查青少年特征在多大程度上不是 只由个体拥有的基因决定， 也取决于它母亲的基因 这 世代之间的表型联系是常见的， 许多生物体，包括父母提供 和父母的照顾 这种非标准形式的 遗传可以改变适应性的方向和速度， 进化 这项研究的目的是量化 这种影响的程度，并研究它如何可能 改变选择的结果，因为它是在一个 自然人口。 在最基本的层面上， 研究将提供一种替代机制， 自然环境中幼态和母体性状的进化 植物种群 育种者已经开发了各种各样的育种计划 以增强他们改变幼年和母亲的能力， 种子重量、出苗日期和种子等性状 在植物中的扩散与初生重、妊娠期 和动物的产奶量。 这些程序 最大化兴趣特征的变化， 在个体、同胞群体或家族中进行选择 这取决于继承的性质。 这 研究是这些应用问题的产物， 植物和动物繁殖，但它也将使一个 对这一应用领域的贡献， 对这些非标准形式的机械理解 植物的遗传。

Understanding the process of evolution by natural selection hinges on mechanistic understanding of two component processes: 1) differential survival and/or fecundity of individuals associated with the traits they possess and 2) the extent to which these traits are inherited. Inheritance is the process by which an individual receives two copies of each gene as well as the extent to which the genes affect the expression of a trait. Maternal inheritance is the special case when the mother via her own genes can directly affect the expression of a trait in her offspring. This maternal effect is independent of the genes she passes on to her offspring. This research is novel in that it will investigate the extent to which juvenile traits are not only determined by the genes an individual possesses, but also by the genes which its mother possesses. This phenotypic connection between generation is common in many organisms and can include parental provisioning and parental care. This non-standard form of inheritance can alter direction and rate of adaptive evolution. The goal of this research is to quantify the magnitude of this effect and examine how it might change the outcome of selection as it is observed in a natural population. At the most basic level this research will provide an alternative mechanism for the evolution of juvenile and maternal traits in natural plant populations. Breeders have developed a variety of breeding programs to enhance their ability to alter juvenile and maternal traits such as seed weight, emergence date and seed dispersal in plants and birth weight, gestation length and milk production in animals. These programs maximize the change in the trait of interest by selection at the individual, sibling group, or family level depending on the nature of inheritance. This research is an outgrowth of these applied problems in plant and animal breeding, but it will also make a contribution to this applied field by providing a mechanistic understanding of these non-standard forms of inheritance in plants.