Ecology, Evolution, and Genetic Architecture of Reproductive Isolation in Iris Nelsonii: A Homoploid Hybrid.

了解物种多样性的起源和维持对进化生物学家来说至关重要。物种形成被认为主要发生在种群彼此分化的时候。然而，许多物种是通过一种不同的、更不为人所知的途径产生的，即同倍体杂交物种形成的过程，在这种过程中，杂种形成时没有基因组复制，并且是与亲本分离的。下面的问题可以很容易地用这个过程中产生的物种来解决：在自然界中维持物种最重要的繁殖障碍是什么？生殖隔离的基因结构是什么？本项目利用分子和野外技术，在路易斯安那鸢尾花复合体中研究同倍体杂交物种形成，使用杂交物种鸢尾花。该项目将为高中生、本科生、硕士生和博士生提供回答生物学中一些最基本问题的重要准备。它将支持三名学生在德克萨斯州立大学（Texas State University）的整个培训过程，同时还为他们参加科学会议展示工作提供旅费。该项目将立即为女学生提供所需资金，促进科学多样性。此外，PI将通过各种推广项目招收主要来自西班牙裔背景的学生。

Understanding the origin and maintenance of species diversity is of primary importance to evolutionary biologists. Speciation is thought to primarily occur as populations diverge from each other. However, many species have arisen through a different and more poorly understood route, the process of homoploid hybrid speciation, in which hybrids form without genome duplication and are isolated reproductively from their parents. Questions such as the following can be addressed easily using species that have arisen by this process: What reproductive barriers are most important in maintaining species in nature? What is the genetic architecture of reproductive isolation? This project utilizes molecular and field techniques to examine homoploid hybrid speciation in the well-studied Louisiana Iris complex, using the hybrid species Iris nelsonii.This project will provide high school students, undergraduates, MSc, and PhD students with important preparation for answering some of the most fundamental questions in biology. It will support three students throughout their training at Texas State University, while also providing funds for traveling to scientific meetings to present their work. The project will promote diversity in science by immediately providing needed funds for female students. Further, the PI will recruit students from a primarily Hispanic background through a variety of outreach programs.