CAREER: Ecoevolutionary dynamics of plant-pollinator interactions in agricultural systems

有效的植物-传粉者相互作用是生产营养水果和蔬菜所必需的，因此对粮食安全至关重要。然而，压倒性的证据表明，在美国，大多数动物授粉作物的授粉是有限的。本提案的研究部分将提供数据，说明作物驯化如何导致植物-传粉者相互作用的变化，这种变化可能与次优授粉有关。具体来说，该项目将结合联合收割机实验进化，电生理学，基因组学和过去的进化分析，以了解人类介导的选择如何影响花的性状，传粉者觅食偏好和传粉者感觉系统。该项目的教育部分将（1）为代表性不足的少数群体的本科生增加研究机会，（2）提供研究生课程，促进学生理解和积极参与解决学术界的公平和包容问题，以及（3）创造机会让公众参与建立科学素养的社区科学项目。人工选择是形成驯化物种表型和适应性的主要进化力量。尽管驯化的植物和动物在地球仪上的范围扩大和优势，但人类介导的选择通过其对植物性状的影响形成野生物种的生态相互作用和相互进化变化的机制尚未得到系统的研究。该项目解决了人工选择对农业生态位中植物传粉系统的生态进化动力学的直接和间接作用的基本问题。利用葫芦属植物及其专门的传粉者，该项目有三个具体目标：（1）通过比较遗传学和实验进化来表征相互人工和传粉者介导的选择在花功能性状进化中的作用，（2）使用地理上重复的田间选择实验来确定驯化植物的花信号的转变如何驱动传粉者觅食行为的变化，以及（3）通过整合电生理学实验和功能基因组学来研究传粉者感觉系统变化的遗传基础，这些变化是由对驯化植物的觅食引起的。该项目的教育部分将为来自代表性不足的少数群体的学生提供研究机会，使他们能够参与可用于解决农业系统中传粉者现实问题的趋同研究主题。这一项目还将包括公众参与，以扩大为上述研究目的进行的地理抽样和数据收集。拟议的研究和教育活动的整合将为理解人类介导的选择如何影响植物，传粉媒介，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值进行评估来支持和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Effective plant-pollinator interactions are necessary for the production of nutritious fruits and vegetables, and thus are vital for food security. However, overwhelming evidence suggests that most animal-pollinated crops are pollination limited in the US. The research component of this proposal will provide data on the ways that crop domestication results in changes in plant-pollinator interactions that may be linked to suboptimal pollination. Specifically, this project will combine experimental evolution, electrophysiology, genomics, and analyses of past evolution to understand how human-mediated selection affected traits of flowers, pollinator foraging preferences, and pollinator sensory systems. The education component of this project will (1) enhance research opportunities for undergraduate students of underrepresented minority groups, (2) offer a graduate course that facilitates an understanding and active engagement of students into solutions to problems of equity and inclusion in academia, and (3) create opportunities to engage the public in community science projects that build science literacy. Artificial selection is the main evolutionary force shaping phenotypes and fitness of domesticated species. Despite the range expansion and dominance of domesticated plants and animals across the globe, the mechanisms by which human-mediated selection shapes, via its effects on plant traits, the ecological interactions and reciprocal evolutionary changes of wild species have not been systematically investigated. This project addresses fundamental questions about the direct and indirect role of artificial selection on the eco-evolutionary dynamics of plant-pollinator systems in agricultural niches. Using the plant genus Cucurbita and their specialized pollinators, this project has three specific aims: (1) characterize the role of reciprocal artificial and pollinator-mediated selection on the evolution of floral functional traits through comparative phylogenetics and experimental evolution, (2) determine how shifts in floral signaling of domesticated plants drive changes in pollinator foraging behavior using geographically replicated field choice experiments, and (3) investigate the genetic underpinnings of changes in pollinator sensory systems that result from foraging on domesticated plants by integrating electrophysiology experiments with functional genomics. The education component of this project will provide research opportunities for students from underrepresented minority groups to engage in convergent research themes that can be applied to solutions to real-life problems of pollinators in agricultural systems. This project will also include the participation of the public to expand the geographic sampling and data collection for the above research aims. The integration of the proposed research and education activities will generate the foundation for the understanding of how human-mediated selection influences the evolution of plants, pollinators, and their interactions while developing a framework to engage and retain students and the general public in scientific activities.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.