Collaborative Research: SG: Exploring the effects of UV light on floral pigmentation

植物经历了许多压力，包括极端温度、干旱和紫外线。紫外线对DNA和蛋白质是有害的。在开花植物中，花粉特别容易受到紫外线的伤害，但花瓣中的深色色素可能会通过吸收紫外线来保护花粉。在20世纪，到达地球的紫外光强度大大增加，而且可能会继续增加，特别是在一些地区。这个项目探索了花中的保护性色素是否随着紫外线的增加而增加。因为花的颜色对吸引传粉者很重要，所以了解它可能是如何变化的，对于了解授粉的有效性也可能发生了变化是必要的。反过来，授粉效率对于许多农作物的经济成功和所有开花植物的生态福祉都是重要的。该项目还将为来自代表性不足群体的学生提供研究经验和指导，并将通过在多个活动中的外展活动吸引公众参与。研究人员将测试UV-B辐射的时间增加导致花瓣中紫外线吸收色素增加的预测。由于UV-B在上个世纪期间在极地和温带地区增加最多，他们预测极地和温带分布的物种将比亚热带物种表现出更大的紫外线吸收色素增加。此外，研究人员将测试这一预测，即具有暴露在阳光下的花粉结构的物种将对UV-B的变化做出反应，而那些具有隐藏在花中的花粉结构的物种(受保护的)则不会。研究人员将使用植物标本和生物气候数据库来收集75个不同地理分布的不同类群的花色素和非生物条件的数据。他们还将在55年的时间跨度内对颜色进行采样，并将使用比较模型来评估UV-B的快速变化是否引起了花朵颜色的快速变化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Plants experience many stresses, including extreme temperatures, drought, and ultraviolet (UV) light. UV light is a harmful to DNA and proteins. In flowering plants, pollen is particularly susceptible to UV damage, but dark pigments in flower petals may protect the pollen by absorbing UV light. The intensity of UV light reaching Earth has increased greatly during the 20th century and may continue to increase, especially in some regions. This project explores whether protective pigmentation in flowers has increased in response to increasing amounts of UV light. Because flower color is important for attracting pollinators, understanding how it may have changed is necessary to understand how effectiveness of pollination may also have changed. Pollination effectiveness, in turn, is important for the economic success of many agricultural crops and for the ecological well-being of all flowering plants. This project will also provide research experiences and mentoring for students from underrepresented groups, and will engage the general public through outreach activities at multiple events.Researchers will test the prediction that temporal increases in UV-B radiation have driven increases in UV-absorbing pigmentation in the petals of flowers. Because UV-B has increased most in polar and temperate regions during the last century, they predict that species with polar and temperate distributions will display larger increases in UV-absorbing pigmentation than sub-tropical species. Additionally, the researchers will test the prediction that species with pollen-bearing structures exposed to sunlight will respond to changes in UV-B, while those with pollen structures recessed within the flower (protected) will not. Researchers will use herbarium specimens and bioclimatic databases to gather data on flower pigmentation and abiotic conditions for 75 diverse taxa with different geographic distributions. They will also sample color across a 55-year time span and will use comparative models to assess whether rapid changes in UV-B have elicited rapid change in flower coloration.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.