Dissertation Research: Chitinase Subfunctionalization in Carnivorous Plants: the Caryophyllales as a Test Case

论文研究：食虫植物中的几丁质酶亚功能化：石竹目作为测试案例

• 批准号: 1011021
• 负责人: Chelsea Specht
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-06-01 至 2012-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1011021&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Chitinase; Subfunctionalization; Carnivorous

Chitinases are a group of plant proteins that can deter herbivory and pathogens by hydrolyzing chitin in insect exoskeletons and fungal cell walls. During the evolution of plant carnivory, chitinase genes may have duplicated and diverged, giving rise to some that now function in carnivory. This project will advance understanding of the evolution of chitinase genes and carnivory in the Caryophyllales, one of the major plant groups that has evolved carnivory. This study will reconstruct an evolutionary history of carnivorous taxa, study divergence of chitinase genes, determine evolutionary selection among types of chitinases, and document their patterns of gene expression. This study is the first to analyze the evolution of the chitinase gene family and it relationship with plant carnivory. In addition to improving understanding of the process of adaptive diversification of chitinase function, the results will provide scientific infrastructure in the form of increased understanding of relationships between taxa of Caryophyllales. The project also will provide mentoring and research-based training for undergraduates and will transmit information on carnivorous plants and their evolutionary biology to the general public.

几丁质酶是一组植物蛋白，可以通过水解昆虫外骨骼和真菌细胞壁中的几丁质来阻止草食动物和病原体。在食肉植物的进化过程中，几丁质酶基因可能会复制和分化，从而产生一些现在在食肉动物中发挥作用的基因。该项目将增进对石竹目中几丁质酶基因和肉食性进化的了解，石竹目是进化出肉食性的主要植物类群之一。这项研究将重建肉食类群的进化史，研究几丁质酶基因的分歧，确定几丁质酶类型之间的进化选择，并记录其基因表达模式。 本研究首次分析了几丁质酶基因家族的进化及其与植物食肉性的关系。除了提高对几丁质酶功能适应性多样化过程的理解外，这些结果还将以增加对石竹目类群之间关系的理解的形式提供科学基础设施。该项目还将为本科生提供指导和基于研究的培训，并向公众传播有关食虫植物及其进化生物学的信息。