Hybridization and the origin of novel taxa in Euphrasia

我们的星球上有大量不同的物种，我正在努力了解这种多样性是如何形成的。最近，有人提出，在自然环境下的种间杂交（杂交）可能是产生某些新物种的第一步。这可能在进化中起着重要的作用，因为与大多数物种进化数十万或数百万年不同，一个新物种可能在不到100代的时间内迅速形成。然而，关于进化生物学的这一领域还有许多未解之谜，例如：为什么物种间的杂交在某些生物体中如此频繁地发生，而在其他生物体中却没有？什么时候会产生一个新物种呢？本研究将在一组物种间杂交常见的本地植物中解决这些问题。Eyebrights （euphasia）是一组遍布英国的19个物种。与许多其他生物不同，杂交是常见的，并且被认为产生了许多只在英国发现的新物种。一个这样的例子是细长的健康眼花（E. micrantha）和普通眼花（E. officinalis），它们是两个新种（E. rivularis和E. vigursii）的亲本。为了了解这些新物种的进化方式，我将从英国各地收集眼球，并使用最先进的DNA测序技术来确定每个亲本物种对新杂交物种DNA的贡献。这些技术中的每一种都将允许对杂交结果的预测进行测试。例如，可以预测一个物种将比另一个物种贡献更多的基因给新物种。当一个物种开出更大的花，对传粉者更有吸引力时，就会出现这种情况，因此最初的杂交物种将继续与这个大花物种反复交配。当这种情况发生在几代人身上时，大多数基因将来自父母一方，只有少数来自另一方。通过对新物种以及双亲的大量基因进行测序，我们可以比较来自双亲的比例。总的来说，这些结果将极大地帮助我们理解新物种的进化方式，特别是最近（过去一万年）起源的稀有物种。这对英国的自然资源保护主义者来说非常重要，他们正在努力保护稀有和濒危物种。通过了解新物种的进化方式，保护生物学家可以制定新的计划，帮助保护新物种产生的过程。这不仅将确保目前存在的稀有物种的生存，而且还将确保在不久的将来可能进化的物种的生存。这样的行动计划将包括保护杂交物种和已知产生杂交物种的物种对，以及维护有利于杂交的栖息地。

Our planet has a huge number of different species, and I am striving to understand the way this diversity has formed. Recently, it has been suggested that cross-mating between species (hybridization) under natural settings, may be the first stage in producing some of these new species. This may play an important role in evolution, as unlike most species which evolve over hundreds-of-thousands or millions of years, it would be possible for a new species to form much more rapidly, in less than 100 generations. However, there are many unanswered questions about this area of evolutionary biology, such as: why does hybridization between species happen so often in some organisms and not others? And when does this produce a new species? This research will address these questions in a group of native plants where hybridization between species is common.Eyebrights (Euphrasia) are a group of 19 species found throughout the UK. Unlike many other organisms, hybridization is common, and thought to give rise to a number of new species that are found only in the UK. One such example is the slender-heath eyebright (E. micrantha) and the common eyebright (E. officinalis), which are parents to two new species (E. rivularis and E. vigursii). To understand the way these new species have evolved, I will be collecting eyebrights from across the UK, and using state-of-the-art DNA sequencing techniques to determine the contribution of each of the parent species to the DNA of the new hybrid species. Each of these techniques will allow predictions about the outcomes of hybridization to be tested. For example, it may be predicted that one species will contribute more genes to the new species than the other. This would arise when a species produces larger flowers that are more attractive to pollinators, and so the initial hybrid will go on to mate recurrently with this large flowered species. When this occurs over many generations, most genes will come from one parent, with just a few from the other parent. By sequencing a large number of genes in the new species, as well as both the parents, we can compare the proportion coming from each of the parents. Overall, these results will greatly help our understanding of the way new species evolve, particularly rare species that are of recent origin (in the last 10,000 years). This is of great importance to conservationists in the UK, who are trying to protect rare and endangered species. By understanding the way new eyebright species have evolved, conservation biologists can make new plans that help protect the processes involved in generating new species. This will ensure the survival of not only rare species that are currently present, but those which may evolve in the near future. Such action plans would include conserving pairs of species that hybridize and are known to produce hybrid species, as well as maintaining areas of habitat that favour hybridization.