DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The evolution of leaf developmental genetics in carnivorous pitcher plants

论文研究：肉食性猪笼草叶片发育遗传学的进化

• 批准号: 1110432
• 负责人: Pamela Soltis
• 金额: $ 1.34万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-08-01 至 2014-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1110432&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; evolution; leaf; developmental

Carnivorous pitcher plants are a fascinating example of adaptation to nutrient-poor soils. Remarkably, the pitcher insect trap evolved three times independently in plants. How did the pitcher evolve from a flat leaf? Did each separate evolution of the pitcher involve the same genetic changes, or do they represent completely different ways of making a similar structure? To address these questions, this study will apply genetic findings from model plants to test hypotheses of the genetic changes responsible for the evolution of the carnivorous pitcher from a flat leaf. This research will evaluate expression patterns and silencing of genes known to be involved in leaf formation and compare their role in the three groups of pitcher plants.This research will provide research-based training for high school and undergraduate students with diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, the ability of these plants to excite public interest will aid in the communication of both scientific principles and the findings of this study through various media formats. This study has possible benefits for the application of biotechnology. The establishment of a method for silencing genes, as proposed for the study of leaf development in pitcher plants, could help advance protein harvesting technology and gene discovery in plants of agronomic importance.

食虫猪笼草是适应营养不良土壤的一个有趣的例子。 值得注意的是，捕虫器在植物中独立进化了三次。猪笼草是如何从一片扁平的叶子进化而来的？ 捕虫笼的每次单独进化是否都涉及相同的基因变化，或者它们是否代表了制造类似结构的完全不同的方式？为了解决这些问题，本研究将应用模型植物的遗传发现来检验遗传变化的假设，该变化负责从平叶进化成肉食性猪笼草。这项研究将评估已知参与叶子形成的基因的表达模式和沉默，并比较它们在三类猪笼草中的作用。这项研究将为具有不同背景的高中生和本科生提供基于研究的培训。此外，这些植物激发公众兴趣的能力将有助于通过各种媒体形式传播科学原理和本研究的结果。这项研究对生物技术的应用可能有好处。为研究猪笼草叶片发育而提出的基因沉默方法的建立，有助于推进具有农艺重要性的植物中的蛋白质收获技术和基因发现。