Collaborative Research: Does Mating-System Evolution Constrain the Adaptive Evolution of Other Traits?

所有有机体都必须适应它们的环境，否则就有灭绝的危险。由于植物需要花粉来生产种子，许多植物物种已经通过自花授粉来适应缺乏传粉者，从而使它们即使在没有传粉者的情况下也能产生种子。然而，自花授粉会侵蚀基因变异，而遗传变异是适应的原材料。这项研究考察了自花授粉是否限制了植物适应其他重要环境挑战的能力。野生猴花(Mimulus Guttatus)将被分为自花授粉和异花授粉品系，它们适应植物面临的最严重威胁之一-昆虫食草动物的能力将得到测试。这一合作结合了植物交配系统生物学和植物与害虫相互作用方面的专业知识。这项研究与保护生物学高度相关，它需要了解减少的遗传变异如何影响适应。由于许多最重要的作物是自花授粉的(例如小麦和水稻)，并且不断受到害虫的轰炸，这项研究具有重要的应用意义。这项提案将支持一名博士后研究员、一名研究助理和四名本科生。将寻求补充资金，以培训更多的本科生和K-12教师。

All organisms must adapt to their environment or risk extinction. Because plants require pollen for seed production, many plant species have adapted to a lack of pollinators by self-pollinating, thus enabling them to produce seeds even in the absence of pollinators. Self-pollination, however, erodes genetic variation, the raw material for adaptation. This study examines whether self-pollination constrains the ability of plants to adapt to other important environmental challenges. Wild monkey flowers (Mimulus guttatus) will be divided into self-pollinating and cross-pollinating lines and their ability to adapt to one of the most serious threats that plants face - insect herbivores - will be tested.This collaboration unites expertise in plant mating system biology and plant-pest interactions. This study is highly relevant to conservation biology which needs to understand how reduced genetic variation affects adaptation. Because many of the most important crops are self-pollinating (e.g., wheat and rice) and are constantly bombarded by pests, this study has important applied implications. This proposal will support a postdoctoral fellow, a research assistant, and four undergraduate students. Supplemental funding will be sought to train additional undergraduates and K-12 teachers.