En-Gen: Ecological Genomics of Drought Adaptation in Mimulus

了解植物对干旱的适应性反应是预测对气候变化的进化反应的关键。该研究整合了生态学、生理学和基因组学，以确定植物适应水分供应和干旱胁迫的机制。研究人员将利用新兴的模式物种猕猴花（Mimulus guttatus），寻找与干旱逃避（开花时间）和脱水避免（水分利用效率）有关的基因。通过野外生态实验，这项工作将把自然基因组变异与功能性生态适应联系起来。研究人员还将描述从不同栖息地收集的基因型之间的自然干旱响应差异，并生成可用于识别负责适应水资源的新基因组区域的遗传系。通过解决植物对水分适应性的基本问题，该研究将大大加深我们对环境基因组学的理解。为了促进未来的快速研究，该项目产生的高度多样化的遗传物质将向整个科学界提供。学生和博士后将接受跨学科的指导和培训，为从景观到核苷酸的合作研究做好准备。调查人员将邀请来自代表性不足群体的高中生和本科生参加研讨会和研究项目。

Understanding adaptive plant responses to aridity is key for predicting evolutionary responses to climate change. The proposed research integrates ecology, physiology, and genomics to identify the mechanisms that allow plants to adapt to water availability and drought stress. Using the emerging model species Mimulus guttatus (monkeyflower), the investigators will search for genes involved in drought escape (flowering time) and dehydration avoidance (water use efficiency). With ecological experiments in the wild, this work will link natural genomic variation to functional ecological adaptations. The investigators will also characterize natural drought response variation among genotypes collected from diverse habitats, and generate genetic lines that can be used to identify novel genomic regions responsible for adaptation to water availability. By addressing fundamental questions about plant adaptation to water availability, the research will greatly deepen our understanding of environmental genomics. To facilitate rapid future studies, the highly diverse genetic material generated by this project will be made available to the entire scientific community. Students and postdoctoral fellows will receive cross-disciplinary mentoring and training, to prepare them for collaborative studies at levels from the landscape to the nucleotide. The investigators will engage high school and undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in workshops and research projects.