Genetic Instability at a Complex Gene Cluster in Arabidopsis

智力优势：开花植物含有重复的基因簇，其中许多与病原体识别有关。这些基因的结构往往是高度可变的，多种力量共同驱动着重复病原体识别基因的多样化。该项目研究了模式开花植物拟南芥（鼠耳衣）的一种独特情况，其中称为SNC1的病原体识别基因的复制拷贝之间的分歧非常迅速。该项目侧重于这个特定的模型，以确定负责植物中病原体抗性基因的频繁出生和死亡的分子机制。更广泛的影响：该项目包含三个不同的因素，以扩大其影响。首先，该研究解决了有关基因变化和快速进化过程发生方式的基本问题。这项研究的结果还将使人们深入了解是什么力量使植物的基因库多样化，以抵御农业害虫。该项目的第二个更广泛的影响将是培养和指导博士后、研究生和本科生水平的科学家。最后，该项目直接让纽约中部地区的高中生参与到一个真正的合作研究项目中，将这些学生以及他们的老师与博伊斯汤普森研究所的科学家联系起来。

Intellectual Merit:Flowering plants contain clusters of repeated genes, many of which are involved in recognition of pathogens. The structures of these genes are often highly variable and a combination of forces drives the diversification among repeated pathogen recognition genes. This project investigates a unique situation in the model flowering plant, Arabidopsis thaliana (mouse-ear cress), where the divergence between duplicated copies of a pathogen recognition gene called SNC1 is extremely rapid. The project focuses on this particular model to define the molecular mechanisms responsible for the frequent birth-and-death of pathogen resistance genes in plants.Broader Impacts:The project contains three different elements that broaden its impact. First, the research addresses fundamental questions regarding the ways that genetic change and rapid evolutionary processes occur. The results of the research will also provide insight into the forces that diversify a plant's arsenal of genes devoted to protection against agricultural pests. The second broader impact of the project will be the training and mentoring of scientists at the postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate levels. Finally, the project directly engages high school students in the central New York region in an authentic collaborative research project, connecting these students, as well as their teachers, with scientists at the Boyce Thompson Institute.