EAGER: The Mechanism of Induction of Plant Galls

这个EAGER的建议将测试的假设，昆虫和其他类群，诱导植物虫瘿已经获得了必要的生物合成途径，从细菌通过共生协会与细菌或水平基因转移。如果得到支持，这一假说将为一个非常普遍的进化现象提供全面的解释，这就是植物虫瘿的起源。将对有限数量的成瘿菌的基因组DNA进行搜索，以寻找细菌基因转移的证据。然后将使用分子工具来证明肠道与非肠道组织中基因的存在。这个简单的分析应该可以解决重要的基因序列是宿主还是细菌衍生的问题。EAGER的广泛影响可能非常重要。研究结果可为防治给农林业造成巨大损失的昆虫、线虫和原生生物产瘿菌奠定基础。如果这些成瘤细胞已经获得了从细菌中形成虫瘿的能力，那么就可以开发出控制虫瘿形成的新方法。这项研究还将为一个非常普遍的生态现象提供一个新的、更简洁的解释。

This EAGER proposal will test the hypothesis that insects and other taxa thatinduce plant galls have acquired the necessary biosynthetic pathways from bacteria via symbiotic associations with bacteria or by horizontal gene transfer. If supported, this hypothesis would provide a comprehensive explanation for a very widespread evolutionary phenomenon, which is the origin of plant galls. Genomic DNA of a limited number of gall formers will be searched for evidence of transfer of bacterial genes. Molecular tools will then be used to demonstrate the presence of genes in gut versus non-gut tissues. This simple analysis should resolve whether the important gene sequences appear to be host- or bacterially-derived. The broader impacts of this EAGER are potentially very significant. Results could lay the foundation for methods to control insect, nematode, and protistan gall formers that cause extensive loss to agriculture and forestry. If these gall formers have acquired the ability to form galls from bacteria, then new approaches to control gall formation can be developed. The study also will provide a new, more parsimonious explanation for a very widespread ecological phenomenon.