Determining the evolutionary developmental consequences of gene duplications in the SPL family of transcription factors

从营养发育到花的产生的过渡对于植物适合度是至关重要的。 开花时间和沿花轴沿着分枝的程度将影响果实和种子产量，包括农业上重要的植物物种的产量。 最近的研究表明，一个转录因子蛋白质家族（称为鳞状细胞-启动子结合蛋白质样，或SPL）调节多种生态和经济上重要性状的发育，包括发育过渡到开花，决定沿着开花轴的分支程度，和果实成熟。 有趣的是，由于历史上的重复事件，在许多开花植物物种的基因组中发现了多个SPL基因拷贝，并且有证据表明这些SPL拷贝已经进化出专门的功能。 该项目将使用遗传方法来确定重复SPL基因如何在三种不同的植物物种中发挥作用，以影响关键植物性状的发育，包括向开花和分枝结构的过渡。 此外，该项目将研究SPL蛋白如何调节，或被其他已知影响开花时间和沿着开花轴分枝的蛋白调节。 放在进化的背景下，结果将提供关键的洞察复制基因如何可以分区和优化功能，或进化新的功能。这些功能变化可以导致性状多样化以及决定适应性的复杂发育遗传途径中的多样化和专业化。 该项目将为博士后研究人员和本科生提供培训，包括来自传统上在科学领域代表性不足的群体的学生。 培训将提高博士后研究人员和学生在发育遗传学和进化界面的科学专业知识，帮助这些人走向成功的研究和教学事业。 该项目将促进与区域6- 12年级教师的外联，帮助将基于探究的科学学习带到课堂。

The transition from vegetative development to the production of flowers is critical to plant fitness. Flowering time, and the extent of branching along the flowering axis will impact fruit and seed production, including production in agriculturally important plant species. Recent work has demonstrated that a family of transcription factor proteins (called SQUAMOSA-PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN LIKE, or SPL) regulates the development of diverse ecologically and economically important traits including the developmental transition to flowering, determining the extent of branching along the flowering axis, and fruit ripening. Interestingly, due to historical duplication events, multiple SPL gene copies are found in the genome of many flowering plant species, and there is evidence that these SPL copies have evolved specialized functions. This project will use genetic approaches to determine how duplicated SPL genes function in three divergent plant species to affect the development of critical plant traits including transition to flowering and branching architecture. In addition, this project will investigate how SPL proteins regulate, or are regulated by, other proteins known to affect flowering time and branching along the flowering axis. Placed in an evolutionary context the results will provide critical insight into how duplicated genes can partition and optimize function, or evolve novel function. These functional changes can lead to trait diversification as well as diversification and specialization within the complex developmental genetic pathways that determine fitness. This project will provide training to a postdoctoral researcher and undergraduate students, including students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences. Training will advance the scientific expertise of the postdoctoral researcher and students at the interface of developmental genetics and evolution, aiding these individuals in moving forward to successful research and teaching careers. This project will facilitate outreach to regional 6-12th grade teachers, helping to bring inquiry-based scientific learning to the classroom.