Ecological and evolutionary implications of haploid gene expression

植物表现出惊人的多样性的性形式，可以在不同的生命阶段表现出来。生长在森林地面上的苔藓植物在基因上相当于开花植物中的花粉粒。为什么这些生活期的优势表达在不同植物之间有如此大的差异？性行为和自我受精的后果是什么？我的研究考察了苔藓和被子植物不同生命阶段性别多样性变化的进化和生态后果。了解影响这种性别多样性的因素需要整合生态遗传学、数学理论和比较生物学。例如，有性有机体可能是两性的，也可能是分离的性别。为动物和种子植物建立的模型表明，近亲繁殖和资源影响性别是独立的还是组合的。我将使用苔藓作为一个新的模型系统来扩展这些模型，并测试它们的普遍性。此外，在开花植物中，我将研究自受精对花粉粒和母体植物之间相互作用的影响。这项研究将为植物性别条件表达多样性的因素选择提供信息，并在保护生物学、植物育种和生物技术方面有应用。

Plants display an amazing diversity of sexual forms, which can be expressed at different life stages. The moss plant growing on the forest floor is genetically equivalent to a pollen grain in flowering plants. Why does the expression of the dominance of these life stages differ so much between plants? What are the consequences of sex and self fertilization? My research examines the evolutionary and ecological consequences of the variation in sexual diversity at different life stages in mosses and angiosperms. Understanding the factors that influence this sexual diversity requires integration of ecological genetics, mathematical theory and comparative biology.  For example, sexual organisms may be hermaphrodite or have separated sexes. Models derived for animals and seed plants suggest that inbreeding and resources influence whether sexes are separate or combined.  I will use mosses as a novel model system to extend these models and test their generality.  In addition, in flowering plants I will examine the effect of self-fertilisation on interactions between pollen grains and the maternal plant. This research will provide information on the factors selecting for the diversity in the expression of sexual conditions in plants, and has applications for conservation biology, plant breeding, and biotechnology.