Dissecting Selection on Multiplex Traits of Arabidopsis thaliana

解释自然界中令人难以置信的多样性的存在，使人们把注意力集中在理解为什么植物具有如此多样的防御特征，如化学物质，毛发和刺。该项目结合了操纵环境因素的实地实验（即，水、光和食草动物负荷）与数量遗传学的统计能力，探索选择如何作用于这些性状，无论是单独的还是作为一套复杂的相互作用的性状。对本研究中使用的植物拟南芥的研究，在基因组水平上进行了非常快的速度，但对这种生物在自然界中的理解滞后。这项研究不仅可以更全面地了解这种模式生物的生物学，而且还可以深入了解环境和基因的相互作用。了解这种相互作用将使我们能够更好地了解环境变化对农业生态系统的影响，并可用于开发旨在保护自己的作物。由于人们越来越认识到植物化学物质在人类健康中的作用，因此更全面地了解选择如何作用于这些化学物质可能对营养和医学有重要的应用。

Explaining the presence of the incredible diversity seen in nature has focused much attention on understanding why plants possess such a diverse collection of defensive traits, such as chemicals, hairs and thorns. This project combines field experiments that manipulate environmental factors (i.e., water, light, and herbivore load) with the statistical power of quantitative genetics to explore how selection acts on such traits both individually and as a suite of complex interacting traits.Studies of the plant used in this research, Arabidopsis thaliana, have proceeded with great speed at the genome level, yet an understanding of this organism in nature lags behind. This study will not only allow a fuller understanding of the biology of this model organism, but it will also provide insight into the interaction of environment and genes. Understanding such interactions will allow us to better appreciate the consequences of environmental change on agricultural ecosystems, and could be used, for example, to develop crops that are designed to protect themselves. Because there is also a growing appreciation of the role of plant chemicals in human health, a fuller understanding of how selection acts on these chemicals might have important applications to nutrition and medicine.