DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Selective constraints, genetic correlations, and divergence of the flavonoid pathway in Silene vulgaris

植物类黄酮途径形成不同的化学物质组，负责几个重要的作用，包括色素沉着，植物防御，抗氧化剂和防晒霜。一个相互连接的基因网络负责每个类黄酮亚组的产生。基因调控和随后的类黄酮表达的变化将由途径的不同分支之间共享的基因和酶控制，这表明类黄酮组之间可能存在权衡，因此相关的生态功能。下一代多转录组形式的测序将由来自高海拔和低海拔植物（高和低UV-B环境）的相互移植实验的蝇子草个体制成，以测试对特定环境的适应和类黄酮基因表达，这将与类黄酮的化学分析进行比较。这将允许同时考虑整个类黄酮途径，特别是特定分支的表达增加如何影响总体表达表型。研究代谢途径的相关性状将有助于阐明植物次生代谢的进化，阐明基因网络中的不同点如何进行适应性进化并影响整个途径的发展。由于类黄酮是普遍存在的，这项研究将适用于大多数植物。特别是，拟议的研究还将扩大知识的植物适应性分歧沿着紫外线-B梯度，转移已与人类介导的全球变化。该提案还详细介绍了在自然环境和非模式生物中使用下一代测序技术，这可能会鼓励沿着这些方向进行进一步研究。

The plant flavonoid pathway forms distinct groups of chemicals responsible for several important roles, including pigmentation, plant defense, antioxidants, and sunscreen. An interconnected network of genes is responsible for the production of each flavonoid subgroup. Changes in gene regulation and subsequent flavonoid expression will be controlled by genes and enzymes that are shared among different branches of the pathway, suggesting that there may be trade-offs between flavonoid groups and therefore the related ecological functions. Next-generation sequencing in the form of multiple transcriptomes will be made of Silene vulgaris individuals taken from a reciprocal transplant experiment of high and low elevation plants (high and low UV-B environments) to test for adaptation to specific environments and flavonoid gene expression, which will be compared to chemical analyses of flavonoids. This will allow the consideration the entire flavonoid pathway simultaneously, in particular how increased expression of a specific branch affects the overall expression phenotype. Studying the correlated traits of a metabolic pathway will shed light on the evolution of secondary metabolism in plants, illuminating how different points in gene networks can be subject to adaptive evolution and influence overall pathway development. Since flavonoids are ubiquitous, this research will be applicable to most plants. In particular, the proposed research will also expand on knowledge of plant adaptive divergence along UV-B gradients, shifts in which have been associated with human-mediated global change. This proposal also details using next-generation sequencing techniques in a natural setting and non-model organism, which may encourage further studies along those lines.