C-Fern (Ceratopteris) Educational Materials Development: Sporophytic and Genetic Applications

该项目极大地扩展了基于C-Fem(Ceratopteris)系统的教材的用途。特别是在生命周期的腐生阶段，亟需加强CFEM的组成部分和能力，这将增加其在广泛的教育环境中的可及性和功能。在所要求的资助期结束时，C-Fem将是一个成熟的、基本上是自我生成的系统，将为生物课程提供一个独特和重要的组成部分。C-FEM用户友好，价格低廉，广泛适用于许多不同的教育环境。这个系统不只是另一个生命周期，它可以生动地说明各种生物学原理。独特的孢子体和配子体世代，加上游动的精子，不同性别类型的信息素控制，短暂的生命周期，从单个细胞发育而来的各种突变种群，将使这一工具成为课堂上或独立研究的通用工具。它特别适合于研究应用，并为遗传学实验室的适应提供了独特的机会。与这一提议相关的主要材料开发活动有两个：1)在孢子体世代中进行大规模突变和选择，以获得在生命周期的孢子体阶段显着缩短时间的突变。2)通过产生单杂交和双杂交突变株系，以及从第一项倡议引入孢子体改良，扩大了C-Fem的遗传应用。有了这些改进，C-Fem将成为生物课堂上的主要有机体。

This project significantly expands the utility of educational materials based on the C-Fem (Ceratopteris) system. Much needed enhancements of the components and capabilities of CFem, especially in the saprophytic phase of the life cycle, will increase its accessibility and functionality in a wide range of educational settings. At the end of the requested funding period, C-Fem will be a mature and substantially self-generating system that will provide a unique and significant component to the biological curriculum. C-Fem is user-friendly, inexpensive and broadly applicable in a number of different educational settings. Rather than being just another life cycle, this system can illustrate in vivid ways a variety of biological principles. The distinctive sporophytic and gametophytic generations along with swimming sperm, pheromonal control of distinct sexual types, a short life cycle, development from a single cell and a wide variety of mutant stocks will combine to make this a versatile tool in the classroom or for independent research. It is especially well suited for inquiry applications and provides unique opportunities for adaptation in the genetics laboratory. There are two major materials development initiatives associated with this proposal: 1) Large-scale mutagenesis and selection in the sporophyte generation in order to obtain mutations that show significant time reductions in the sporophytic phase of the life cycle. 2) Expansion of the genetic applications of C-Fem through the generation of mono- and dihybrid mutant lines and the incorporation of sporophytic improvements from the first initiative. With these improvements, C-Fem is poised to become a principal organism in the biology classroom.