RUI: Collaborative Research: From Cacti to Carnivores: Using transcriptomes to explore the evolution of the highly diverse and globally distributed Caryophyllales

RUI：合作研究：从仙人掌到食肉动物：利用转录组探索高度多样化和全球分布的石竹目的进化

• 批准号: 1352907
• 负责人: Michael Moore
• 金额: $ 17.13万
• 依托单位: Oberlin College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-02-01 至 2019-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1352907&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Collaborative; Research; Cacti; Carnivores

Biologists have long known that traits and gene sequences evolve at different rates in different lineages of organisms, but it has been difficult to understand the causes for these shifts in evolutionary rate. For example, the Caryophyllales contain ~6% of all flowering plant species and exhibit extreme life history diversity, including tropical trees, temperate herbs, long-lived succulent cacti, and a diverse array of carnivorous plants. The rate of DNA sequence evolution among these lineages differs greatly. This project will leverage recent advances in genome sequencing technologies and computational methods to evaluate the extent to which changes in life history and ecophysiology in plants are correlated with changes in the evolutionary rate over the entire genome. In collaboration with researchers worldwide, key traits will be characterized and 10,000 genes will be sequenced for 300 representative species of Caryophyllales. Analyses of evolutionary rate shifts in both traits and the genome will be used to assess how life history and ecophysiology have influenced genomic evolution, and vice versa. This project provides the first rigorous assessment of the relationship between shifts in ecology and life history and genome-wide changes in evolutionary rate. It will yield unprecedented insight into the evolution of several genetic pathways of fundamental importance in flowering and crop plants, including those associated with flower development, photosynthesis, and pigmentation. Furthermore, this research will include the development of new and refined bioinformatic tools of broad use to biologists. The project will support the mentorship and training of a postdoctoral researcher, graduate students, and numerous undergraduates on all aspects of the project, and will fund professional development workshops for high school teachers and plant biologists.

长期以来，生物学家已经知道，在生物体的不同谱系中，性状和基因序列以不同的速率进化，但是很难理解这些进化速率这些变化的原因。例如，牛角菌含有约6％的所有开花植物物种，并表现出极端的生活历史多样性，包括热带树，温带草药，长寿命的肉质仙人掌以及各种各样的食肉植物。这些谱系之间的DNA序列演变速率大不相同。该项目将利用基因组测序技术和计算方法的最新进展，以评估植物中生命史和生态生物学的变化与整个基因组中进化率的变化相关的程度。与全球研究人员合作，将为关键特征进行表征，并将为300种代表性的石chylylales物种测序10,000个基因。对性状和基因组进化率转移的分析将用于评估生命史和生态生理学如何影响基因组进化，反之亦然。该项目提供了对生态变化与生命史的转变与全基因组变化进化率之间的关系的首次严格评估。它将对开花和作物植物的几种基本重要性的几种遗传途径的演变（包括与花朵发育，光合作用和色素沉着相关的植物）产生前所未有的见解。此外，这项研究将包括开发新的和精致的生物信息学对生物学家的广泛使用工具。该项目将支持博士后研究员，研究生以及该项目各个方面的众多本科生的指导和培训，并将为高中教师和植物生物学家提供专业发展研讨会。