RIG: Developmental Genetics of Pollination-Related Floral Phenotypes in Thalictrum

被子植物，或开花植物，包括人们熟悉的生物，如雏菊、罂粟、玫瑰和橡树，是迄今为止最成功的陆地植物类别。几个世纪以来，杰出的科学家和哲学家一直在想，令人惊叹的花卉形式多样性是如何形成的。到目前为止，基因组学和遗传学中的新工具正在变得可用来帮助解决这些长期存在的问题。这个项目通过关注具有各种花型的毛花科植物中的“草地规则”，解决了花形态变化背后的基因问题。为了让花产生种子，它们需要授粉。这意味着花粉，即生育精子的结构，需要被输送到雌性结构才能实现受精。该项目将比较昆虫和风媒授粉的花朵，研究影响授粉的花卉特征的基因。为此，研究人员采用了跨学科的方法，使用显微镜和分子生物学来评估基因的表达和功能，以及系统发育学(建造树或基因和物种的谱系)，以了解这些花卉形态是如何进化的，并揭示这些特定基因在它们进化中的作用。主要研究人员与本科生进行了广泛的合作，主要是女性和/或少数族裔，他们将直接受益于该奖项。她将教授本科生和研究生课程，包括在校园里有近400名学生的生物学入门课程。更好地理解植物传粉者相互作用的遗传基础对农业有影响，因为它的操纵可以提高种子产量。对使花朵对昆虫传粉者更具吸引力的基因进行表征，还有一个额外的好处，就是为花卉栽培行业产生理想的特征。

The angiosperms, or flowering plants, include organisms as familiar as daisies, poppies, roses and oaks, and are by far the most successful group of land plants. Prominent scientists and philosophers have wondered over centuries about how the amazing diversity of floral form came to be. To date, new tools in genomics and genetics are becoming available to help address these long-standing questions. This project addresses the question of what are the genes underlying changes in flower morphology by focusing on "meadow rues" in the buttercup family having a variety of floral types. In order for flowers to produce seeds, they need to be pollinated. This means that pollen, the sperm bearing structure, needs to be transported to the female structures to achieve fertilization. This project will compare insect and wind pollinated flowers, investigating genes that are responsible for floral features that affect pollination. To this end, the investigator takes an interdisciplinary approach using microscopy and molecular biology to assess gene expression and function, and phylogenetics (building trees or genealogies of genes and species) to understand how these floral morphologies evolved and reveal the role of these particular genes in their evolution.The principal investigator has worked extensively with undergraduates, mostly women and/or minorities, who will directly benefit as a result of this Award. She will teach undergraduate and graduate courses, including introductory biology course on campus with close to 400 students. A better understanding of the genetic basis of plant pollinator interactions has an impact on agriculture, since its manipulation can improve seed production. Characterization of the genes involved in making flower more attractive to insect pollinators has the added bonus of producing desirable traits for the floriculture industry.