RUI Collaborative Research IPY: Flower Color Evolution in the Arctic: Integrating Genomic Research and Undergraduate Education in Polar Environments

北极生物的适应能力如何？普遍认为，严寒、短的生长季节、高紫外线(UV)照射和其他环境条件不仅限制了哪些植物和动物可以在北极生存，而且限制了它们进化和适应当前和未来条件的能力。考虑到当前的全球气候危机，这是一个及时的话题。圣克拉拉大学的Pi Whitall和阿拉斯加安克雷奇大学的Co-Pi Carlson正在利用表现出不同花色(紫色和白色)的北极芥菜物种来解决这个中心问题。这种变异为进化变化提供了原材料，并表明北极基因组实际上可能比之前认为的更具活力。这些花的颜色差异可能代表了对传粉者的适应，这是基于长期存在的假设，即花的颜色的目的是吸引传粉者。或者，绘制花朵的相同的颜料对于植物应对环境挑战的能力也是至关重要的，例如寒冷、干旱和紫外线暴露(与北极增加的环境压力相同)。惠托尔和卡尔森将研究沿纬度梯度进入北极的芥菜种群，那里的传粉者越来越稀少，前述具有挑战性的环境因素增加。惠托尔和卡尔森，以及本科生和研究生，计划记录授粉者和环境因素在决定花朵颜色方面的重要性。通过选择芥末品种，他们将能够使用新开发的基因组工具，使他们能够调查整个基因组，寻找不同花色植物之间的差异。这项研究的更广泛影响包括对基因表达的更深入了解，以及对北极基因组进化(至少在这些芥菜中是多么容易)的理解。该项目的另一个组成部分将包括开设一个名为《北极生物学：从生态学到基因组》的暑期密集本科课程，圣克拉拉大学的学生将与阿拉斯加大学的学生一起在北极学习，然后回到圣克拉拉大学。

How adaptable are Arctic organisms? The prevailing belief is that the severe cold, short growing seasons, high ultraviolet (UV) light exposure, and other environmental conditions not only limit which plants and animals can survive in the Arctic, but constrain their ability to evolve and adapt to current and future conditions. This is a timely subject given the current global climate crisis. PI Whittall (Santa Clara University) and Co-PI Carlson (University of Alaska Anchorage) are addressing this central question by using Arctic mustard species that exhibit variation in their flower colors (purple and white). This variation provides the raw material for evolutionary change and suggests Arctic genomes may actually be more dynamic than previously thought. These flower color differences may represent adaptations to pollinators based on the long-standing assumption that the purpose of flower color is to attract pollinators. Alternatively, the same pigments that paint flowers are also critical for a plant's ability to respond to environmental challenges such as cold, drought, and UV-exposure (the same environmental stresses that increase in the Arctic). Whittall and Carlson will study mustard populations along a latitudinal gradient into the Arctic where pollinators are increasingly scarce and the aforementioned challenging environmental factors increase. Whittall and Carlson, along with undergraduate and graduate students, plan to document the importance of pollinators and environmental factors in determining flower colors. By choosing mustard species, they will be able to use newly developed genomic tools, allowing them to survey the entire genome for differences between plants of different flower colors. Broader impacts of the research include increased insight into gene expression, and an understanding of how easily Arctic genomes can evolve (at least in these mustards). An additional component of the project will involve the creation of a summer-intensive undergraduate course entitled, "Arctic Biology: From Ecology to the Genome" where Santa Clara University students will study alongside University of Alaska students both in the Arctic, then back at Santa Clara University.