Dissertation Research: Evolutionary transitions: pollination biology and domestication of Artocarpus (Moraceae)

被子植物的迅速多样化和优势地位的上升是进化生物学的一个持久的谜团。虽然与动物传粉者的共同进化是被子植物多样性的主要驱动力，但动物传粉相对于风媒传粉的优势程度一直存在争议，而且合适的研究系统的稀缺性阻碍了对这种转变后果的理解。这项研究使用热带树木属木菠萝（桑科）-一种罕见的系统，表现出从风到动物授粉的转变-来研究这种转变的进化意义。菠萝蜜授粉范围从风到一个独特的互惠共生介导的寄生真菌，提供了一个育雏网站和营养苍蝇授粉。该项目提供了机会，了解与授粉转变相关的形态特征，挑战有关从风到动物授粉的逆转的假设，并暴露可能参与开花植物早期辐射的特征，因为它们与动物授粉者共同进化。Artocarpus包含几种未充分利用的作物，包括面包果，菠萝蜜和特拉普。这项研究将通过增加对其生殖生物学的了解来支持开发和改善重要的菠萝蜜作物的努力。该项目结合了实验传粉者排斥研究与形态分析，以阐明在木菠萝授粉机制，并揭示与风和昆虫授粉之间的过渡形态特征。这些转变将结合基因组分析的组，在进化的背景下，分析形态的变化，并解决在Artocarpus风昆虫授粉过渡的数量和方向。该研究使用微卫星DNA指纹来揭示昆虫授粉物种Artocarpus odoratissimus的驯化历史，Artocarpus odoratissimus是该属中几种未充分利用的热带树木作物之一。通过在马来西亚的合作，该项目将促进对发展中热带地区一组利用不足的作物的科学研究，并向当地科学家提供授粉生物学方面的培训。该研究还将为本科生提供研究机会。研究人员将通过在芝加哥植物园的展览吸引公众参与，以提高对授粉生物学和热带生物多样性的认识。

The rapid diversification and rise to dominance of angiosperms is one of the enduring mysteries of evolutionary biology. While coevolution with animal pollinators is a major driver of angiosperm diversity, the degree of advantage conferred by animal pollination over wind pollination has been controversial, and the rarity of appropriate study systems has hampered progress in understanding the consequences of this transition. This research uses the tropical tree genus Artocarpus (Moraceae)- one of the rare systems exhibiting transitions from wind to animal pollination - to investigate evolutionary implications of that shift. Artocarpus pollination ranges from wind to a unique mutualism mediated by parasitic fungi that provide a brood site and nutrition for fly pollinators. This project provides the opportunity to understand morphological characters associated with pollination shifts, challenge assumptions about reversions from wind to animal pollination, and expose characters that may have been involved in the early radiation of flowering plants as they co-evolved with their animal pollinators. Artocarpus contains several underutilized crops including breadfruit, jackfruit, and terap. This research will support efforts to develop and improve important Artocarpus crops by increasing understanding of their reproductive biology. The project combines experimental pollinator-exclusion studies with morphological analysis to elucidate pollination mechanisms in Artocarpus and reveal morphological traits correlated with transitions between wind and insect pollination. These transitions will be combined with phylogenomic analyses for the group, to analyze changes in morphology in an evolutionary context, and to resolve the number and direction of wind-insect pollination transitions in Artocarpus. The research uses microsatellite DNA fingerprinting to uncover the domestication history of the insect-pollinated species Artocarpus odoratissimus, one of several underutilized tropical tree crops in this genus. Through collaborations in Malaysia, this project will promote scientific research on a group of underutilized crops in developing tropical regions and provide training in pollination biology to local scientists. The research will also provide research opportunities for undergraduates. The researchers will engage the public through displays at the Chicago Botanic Garden to promote awareness of pollination biology and tropical biodiversity.