Dissertation Research - Phylogeny and Trichome Evolution in the Brassicaceae

十字花科植物的系统发育和毛状体进化本项目的重点是确定芥菜科植物之间的关系，并利用这些信息来确定植物表皮毛的发育过程。芥菜科（芸苔科）在农艺学上引起了人们的兴趣，因为它包含芸苔属，其变种包括西兰花、大头菜、羽衣甘蓝、抱子甘蓝、卷心菜和花椰菜（以及其他）。菜籽油是由甘蓝型油菜的种子生产的，该家族的油用于烹饪和工业用途。从科学的角度来看，芸苔科也是一个重要的植物科，因为植物遗传模式物种拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana）被纳入科，其全基因组测序已经完成。这项工作建立了圣路易斯大都会地区三个研究机构之间的合作：密苏里大学圣路易斯分校、密苏里植物园、唐纳德丹福斯植物科学中心。尽管十字花科的重要性，我们的理解不同的十字花科物种彼此之间的关系滞后。在这里，将产生一个科内物种关系的详细框架。此外，从已发表的拟南芥研究中获得的遗传信息将应用于其他密切相关的物种，以帮助确定基因功能。虽然在模式生物的背景下研究基因可以深入了解特定基因在该生物的背景下是如何起作用的，但此类研究无法确定所讨论的基因是否为该特定功能而进化，或者这些基因是否在其他植物中发挥相同或类似的作用。这个问题在本研究中通过使用植物家族内确定的关系以及已知影响许多芸苔科物种叶子上表皮毛的形状和大小的基因来解决。拟南芥表皮毛发的发育过程将与芸苔科近缘种的毛发发育进行比较，以确定它们之间的发育差异。这项调查允许未来的研究将影响头发形状差异的潜在基因的数量缩小到那些在不同物种之间的发育阶段活跃的基因。此外，它还提供了有关控制细胞形状的细胞机制的宝贵信息，这是细胞发育的一个重要方面。

Phylogeny and trichome evolution in the family BrassicaceaeThis project focuses on determining relationships between plants in the mustard family and the use of this information in determining how the development of epidermal hairs on plants occurs. The mustard family (Brassicaceae) is of interest agronomically because it contains the Brassica species, whose variants include the crops broccoli, kohlrabi, kale, brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower (among others). Canola oil is produced from the seeds of Brassica napus, and oils from the family are used in cooking as well as for industrial purposes. Brassicaceae is also an important plant family from a scientific perspective, due to the inclusion in the family of the plant genetic model species Arabidopsis thaliana, whose entire genome has been sequenced. The work builds collaboration between three research institutions in the St. Louis metropolitan area: University of Missouri St. Louis, Missouri Botanical Garden, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.Despite the importance of the Brassicaceae, our understanding of the relationships of different Brassicaceae species to one another has lagged. Here, a detailed framework of the relationships of species within the family will be produced. And, genetic information obtained from published studies of Arabidopsis thaliana will be applied to other closely related species to help determine gene function. While studying genes in the context of model organisms gives insight into how particular genes function within the context of that organism, such studies cannot determine the likelihood that the genes in question evolved for that particular function, or if the genes play the same or similar roles in other plants. This question is addressed in this study by using the relationships determined within the plant family Brassicaceae in conjunction with genes known to affect the shape and size of epidermal hairs found on the leaves of many Brassicaceae species. The developmental progression associated with epidermal hairs in Arabidopsis will be compared with the development of hairs on closely related species of Brassicaceae to determine how development differs between them. This inquiry permits future studies to narrow the number of potential genes affecting differences in hair shape to only those active during developmental stages that differ between species. Furthermore, it provides valuable information about the cellular mechanisms that control cell shape, an important aspect of cellular development.