U.S.-Mauritius Doctoral Dissertation Enhancement Project: Baker's Rule and Mating System Evolution in Madagascan Coffea (Rubiaceae)

该奖项支持一个博士论文增强项目，该项目研究了自交不亲和分子基础的遗传变异性（即，植物识别和排斥自身花粉的能力）。第二项研究将研究与马达加斯加和马斯克林群岛（毛里求斯和留尼汪）特有的咖啡树在古老岛屿殖民化有关的自交不亲和性的进化转变。 由此产生的数据将被用来测试马达加斯加咖啡是否是贝克法则（即自交不亲和的类群不能在岛屿上定居）的例外。该项目将使一名美国研究生能够与国际合作者（包括马达加斯加和毛里求斯的科学家和学生以及英国的科学家和学生）共同开发和开展一个项目。该项目将包括在马达加斯加、毛里求斯和留尼汪进行实地实验和收集咖啡树，每个国家的一名住校学生将获得设计和执行实地实验以及为植物标本馆收集植物的经验。该项目将加强美国和非洲科学家之间的国际合作，并将提供与东道国分享分子遗传和计算专业知识的机会。

This award supports a doctoral dissertation enhancement project that examines genetic variability in the molecular basis of self-incompatibility (i.e., the ability of plants to recognize and reject their own pollen) in the genus Coffea, the economically important genus of coffee trees. A second line of research will examine evolutionary transitions in self-incompatibility that are putatively associated with ancient island colonization by coffee trees endemic to Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands (Mauritius and Reunion). The resulting data will be used to test whether Madagascan coffee was an exception to Baker's Rule (that self-incompatible taxa cannot colonize islands).This project will enable a U.S. graduate student to undertake a project jointly developed and conducted with international collaborators, including scientists and students in Madagascar and Mauritius, as well as in the United Kingdom. The project will involve field experiments and collections of coffee trees in Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion, and in each country a resident student will gain experience in designing and executing field experiments and collecting plants for herbariums. The project will strengthen international collaborations between U.S. and African scientists and will provide opportunities to share molecular genetic and computational expertise with host countries.