Modification of the ABC Program and the Evolution of Floral Novelty

从苹果到斑马，生命的多样性是美丽的，迷人的，激发想象力的。不同形式如何产生的问题是生物学中最吸引人和最重要的问题之一。显花植物提供了一个很好的机会来研究遗传基础进化的新奇，特别是在花器官的独特形式的背景下。大多数花都有一套标准的器官萼片、花瓣、雄蕊和心皮，但有些花进化出了第五种器官类型。本项目使用新的模式系统Aquilegia（Columbine）来了解新的花器官身份和阐述的遗传基础。在<$bines中，标准的花器官可能会发展出奇妙的新特征，例如花瓣花蜜刺的长度从几毫米到超过12厘米不等。该项目建立在以前的研究基础上，以了解i）基因复制如何促进第五种不同形式的花器官退化雄蕊的进化; ii）还有哪些遗传变化促进了退化雄蕊的进化;以及iii）从荷尔蒙和遗传学的角度来看，Aquilegia的花瓣花蜜刺的发育是如何控制的。培养我们的下一代科学家需要让学生对科学的过程，并使他们熟悉科学的真实的日常实践。最近测序的Aquilegia基因组的遗传注释将被用作Crimson Summer Academy的讲座/实验室模块的基础，Crimson Summer Academy是哈佛的一个夏季项目，面向来自经济困难背景的学术天才高中生。该计划将让学生参与广泛的主题，包括基因和基因组组织，基因进化和撰写可编辑科学文章的过程。

The variety of life-from apples to zebras-is beautiful, engaging and excites the imagination. The question of how different forms arise is one of the most fascinating and important in all of biology. The flowering plants offer a wonderful opportunity to investigate the genetic basis evolutionary novelty, especially in the context of unique forms of floral organs. Most flowers display a standard set of organs-sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels-but some have evolved fifth organ types. This project uses the new model system Aquilegia (columbine) to understand the genetic basis of novel floral organ identity and elaboration. In columbines, standard floral organs may develop fantastic new features, such as petal nectar spurs that vary in length from a few mm to over 12 cm. The project builds on previous studies to understand i) how gene duplication has contributed to the evolution of a fifth, distinct form of floral organ, the staminodium; ii) what other genetic changes contributed to the evolution of the staminodium; and iii) how development of Aquilegia's petal nectar spurs is controlled from a hormonal and genetic standpoint.Training our next generation of scientists requires getting students excited about the scientific process and familiarizing them with the real day to day practice of science. Genetic annotation of the recently sequenced Aquilegia genome will be used as the basis for a lecture/lab module in the Crimson Summer Academy, a summer program at Harvard for academically talented high school students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. This program will engage students with a wide range of topics including gene and genome organization, gene evolution and the process of writing a publishable scientific article.