Molecular basis of developmental variation in Arabidopsis arenosa

适当调节植物的发育，如繁殖时间、分枝和生长速度，对于在不同的生境中生存至关重要。在不合适的时间开花，或者不恰当地调整生长速度，都可能带来灾难。拟南芥（Arabidopsis arenosa）是实验室模型拟南芥（拟南芥）的近亲，在潮湿和树荫密布的森林岩石露头处发现，但一些种群已成功地在铁路遗址定居。在这里，他们面临着许多环境挑战，如高温、除草剂、强光和干旱风险。来自森林露头的植物是晚开花的多年生植物，而来自铁路的植物是一年生植物，始终开花较早，分支更广泛。这个项目将有助于了解像沙草这样的野生植物是如何进化出新的发展策略，使它们能够实现栖息地的转变。这不仅对我们了解植物多样性有用，而且对农业也有用，因为我们所依赖的作物面临着越来越不稳定和具有挑战性的环境条件。该项目将结合遗传作图、基因组学和分子生物学来识别和表征控制开花时间、生长速度和植物结构差异的基因，这些差异与具有挑战性的栖息地的殖民化有关。该项目将为一名博士后科学家、一名博士生和几名本科生提供培训。学生将从哈佛大学和波士顿地区社区大学的多元化人群中招募。对本科生的培训将包括实验室研究指导，研究的道德行为，以及演讲和写作技巧。该项目产生的数据将通过出版物和网站向公众提供。所有序列数据将保存在国家生物技术信息中心的序列档案中。本项目产生的核心遗传资源将通过拟南芥生物资源中心对外开放。

Proper regulation of development in plants, such as the timing of reproduction, branching and growth rate, is critical for survival in diverse habitats. Flowering at inappropriate times, or improperly tuning growth rate to local environment can spell disaster. Arabidopsis arenosa, a close relative of the laboratory model, A. thaliana, is found in moist and heavily shaded forest rock outcrop sites, but some populations have successfully colonized railway sites. Here, they face many environmental challenges such as higher temperatures, herbicides, high light and drought risk. Plants from forest outcrops are late-flowering perennials, while plants from railways are annual, consistently flower earlier and branch more extensively. This project will contribute to understanding how wild plants like A. arenosa evolve new developmental strategies that enable them to make such habitat transitions. This is useful information not only for our understanding plant diversity, but also for agriculture, as the crops we depend on face ever more volatile and challenging environmental conditions. This project will use a combination of genetic mapping, genomics and molecular biology to identify and characterize genes that control differences in flowering time, growth rate and plant architecture associated with colonization of challenging habitats. The project will provide training for a postdoctoral scientist, a PhD student, and several undergraduates. Students will be recruited from a diverse pool at Harvard and Boston-area community colleges. Training for undergraduates will include mentored laboratory research, ethical conduct of research, as well as presentation and writing skills. The data generated from this project will be made publicly available through publications and websites. All sequence data will be deposited in the sequence archives of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Core genetic resources generated in this project will be made available through the Arabidopsis Biological Resources Center.