Conflict in a Gynodioecious Plant and the Cost of Male Fertility Restoration

在植物中，细胞质雄性不育(CMS)基因能够通过阻止花粉产生(雄性生殖)来传播，因为它们是母系遗传的，并导致种子产量增加。携带CMS的个体传递核基因的能力降低；因此，核雄性育性恢复(RF)基因已经出现，通过恢复花粉产生来抵消CMS基因的影响。然而，RF基因对整体生殖有不利影响，称为恢复成本，这是了解CMS和RF基因传播的关键。这项提议的目标是进行一项强大的实验，以衡量在植物模型系统Silene Volgaris中恢复的成本。恢复的成本将根据总生殖产出和恢复男性生育能力之间的相关性的强度来衡量。拟议的研究将提供关于母系遗传遗传病的传播以及细胞质和核基因之间相互作用的重要信息。此外，这项研究还可能为作物育种创造新的基因。将培训一名本科生助理和一名博士后助理，将提供研究生参与的机会，并将购买新仪器用于阿拉斯加大学的研究。

In plants, cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) genes are able to spread by blocking pollen production (male reproduction) because they are maternally inherited and cause increased seed production. An individual that carries CMS has reduced ability to transmit nuclear genes; thus, nuclear male fertility restoration (Rf) genes have arisen to counteract the effects of the CMS genes by reinstating pollen production. The Rf genes have a detrimental effect on overall reproduction, however, called the cost of restoration, which is a key to understanding the spread of CMS and Rf genes. The goal of this proposal is to perform a powerful experiment to measure the cost of restoration in a plant model system, Silene vulgaris. The cost of restoration will be measured as the strength of the correlation between total reproductive output and the ability to restore male fertility.The proposed studies will provide vital information regarding the spread of maternally inherited genetic diseases and interactions between cytoplasmic and nuclear genes. Moreover, this research may generate novel genes for crop breeding. An undergraduate assistant and a postdoctoral associate will be trained, opportunities for graduate student participation will be available, and new instrumentation will be purchased for research at the University of Alaska.