Contagious Asexuality via Introgressive Hybridization: a Test of Hypotheses using Genetic Mapping in Flowering Plants

生物学中一个广泛关注的问题是不同物种之间杂交（“杂交”）的影响，其中包括从栽培作物中逃逸转基因的各种现象，以及本地物种之间杂交的动态和结果。这项拟议中的研究旨在从遗传学的角度研究通过杂交在植物中产生种子而不受精的能力的传播，这种现象称为无融合生殖。本研究将对一种常见的草本植物（飞蓬、飞蓬、向日葵科）的有性和无融合生殖植物的杂种进行研究。使用分子标记的遗传作图将被用来测试不同的假设有关的克里思性状传播，并评估影响无融合生殖的基因组区域之间的数量，位置和相互作用。 这项研究很重要，因为它为无性生殖的遗传学和进化提供了一个新的视角。研究结果将为（1）将野生物种的无融合生殖转移到农艺物种的努力提供信息;（2）在自然种群中维持有性生殖的模型;以及（3）我们对基因相互作用如何影响杂交过程动态的理解。此外，该项目的资金将用于培养分子生物学方面的几名本科生和研究生。

An issue of broad concern in biology is the impact of hybridization ("crossing") between different species, which encompasses phenomena as diverse as the escape of transgenes from cultivated crops, to the dynamics and outcomes of hybridization between native species. The proposed research aims to study from a genetic perspective the spread by hybridization of the ability in plants to produce seeds without fertilization, a phenomenon termed apomixis. In this research, hybrids between sexual and apomictic plants in a common herb (fleabane, Erigeron, sunflower plant family) will be studied. Genetic mapping using molecular markers will be used to test different hypotheses relating to the tempo of trait spread and also to evaluate the number, location, and interactions among genome regions affecting apomictic reproduction. This research is important because it provides a novel perspective on the genetics and evolution of asexual reproduction. Results will inform (1) efforts to transfer apomictic reproduction from wild to agronomic species; (2) models for the maintenance of sexual reproduction in natural populations; and (3) our understanding of how gene interactions influence the dynamics of the hybridization process. In addition, money from this project will be used to train several undergraduate and graduate students in molecular biology.