The functional and molecular evolution of genes involved in plant-bacterial symbioses

我们将研究莲花和它的根瘤菌共生体之间的相互作用所涉及的基因的分子进化。我们将描述在识别细菌共生体的两个关键位点（即NFR 1和NFR 5）的核苷酸变异水平。结合进化遗传分析，将进行感染测定以确定宿主和共生体之间的识别表型。将来自野生和/或通过定点诱变修饰的等位基因变体转化成适当的突变株系，以精确定位与种间识别相关的特定氨基酸残基。

We will investigate the molecular evolution of the genes involved in the interaction between Lotus and its rhizobial symbiont. We will characterize the levels of nucleotide variation at two loci critical in the recognition of the bacterial symbiont, namely NFR1 and NFR5. In combination with evolutionary genetic analyses, infection assays will be conducted to determine the recognition phenotype between hosts and symbionts. Allelic variants from the wild and/or modified by site-direct mutagenesis will be transformed into the appropriate mutant lines to pinpoint the specific amino acid residues associated with inter-species recognition.