Collaborative Research: Sex Ratio Evolution in Ephemeral Demes of a Gynodioecious Plant

雌雄异株是植物种群中两性个体和雌性个体共存的一种状态。当突变(称为细胞质雄性不育(CMS)因素)导致两性体失去男性功能，同时种子产量增加时，就会发生这种情况。了解雌雄异株如何持续是植物种群生物学领域的一个持续存在的问题。这个项目将结合分子遗传标记和遗传杂交来研究在小的自然种群中有多少不同的CMS因子存在，以及这些因子是如何在空间上分布的。这将与数学和计算机模型相结合，以了解当地人口的灭绝和重新定居如何影响雌雄异体的进化。该项目将与几个更广泛的科学问题相关。首先，CMS因素是“自私DNA”的一个例子。对普通链霉菌的研究将是为数不多的将分子标记与自然界中的自私元素联系起来的研究之一。其次，研究小种群和碎片化种群的遗传学对保护生物学具有重要意义。这项对普通链球菌的研究将提供有关小种群遗传过程的一般信息。最后，雌雄异株对农业很重要，因为它被植物育种者用作提高作物产量的工具。

0078531McCauleyGynodioecy is a condition in plant populations in which hermaphroditic and female individuals coexist. It arises when a mutation (called a cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) factor) causes hermaphrodites to lose male function, with a concurrent increase in seed production. Understanding how gynodioecy persists is an ongoing question in the field of plant population biology. This project will combine molecular genetic markers and genetic crosses to ask how many different CMS factors exist in small natural populations of Silene vulgaris, and how those factors are distributed spatially. This will be combined with mathematical and computer models in order to understand how the extinction and recolonization of local populations influences the evolution of gynodioecy.This project will be relevant to several broader scientific issues. First, CMS factors are an example of "selfish DNA". The studies of S. vulgaris will be one of the few to link molecular markers to selfish elements in nature. Second, the study of the genetics of small and fragmented populations is significant for conservation biology. This study of S. vulgaris will yield general information about genetic processes in small populations. Finally, gynodioecy is important for agriculture because it is used as a tool by plant breeders for increasing crop yield.