BRC-BIO: Using the genus Aquilegia to develop a multidisciplinary approach to study the evolution and ecology of nectar variation

BRC-BIO：利用耧斗菜属开发多学科方法来研究花蜜变异的进化和生态学

• 批准号: 2217874
• 负责人: Evangeline Ballerini
• 金额: $ 50.16万
• 依托单位: University Enterprises, Incorporated
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-15 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2217874&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: BRC; BIO; Using; genus; Aquilegia

Most flowering plants rely on animal pollinators to reproduce. Given the importance of attracting pollinators in order to complete their life cycle, many plants have evolved to produce floral nectar, composed of sugars and other nutrients that serves as a reward for pollinators. Different animal pollinators (e.g., bees, birds, or moths) have different metabolic needs, and previous work has shown that plants adapted to different pollinators vary in the amount and the biochemical composition of the nectar that they produce. However, little is known about the genes that control this variation in nectar production. This work combines biochemical profiling of nectar components produced by closely related plants that have adapted to different pollinators with genetic analyses in order to identify the genes that control variation in nectar volume and biochemistry. As around 35% of agricultural crops rely on animal pollinators, identifying genes that control important aspects of nectar variation could help improve nectar quality and pollination efficiency to increase crop production. In addition, this work provides numerous opportunities to train both undergraduate and master’s students to conduct hands on research in fields such as genomics, metabolomics, and bioinformatics in preparation to pursue advanced degrees or obtain careers in STEM fields.Plant-pollinator interactions are a driving force of floral diversification with animal pollinators, exerting strong selection on floral trait evolution that can contribute to reproductive isolation and speciation. Prior focus on floral adaptation to animal pollinators has largely focused on morphological traits such as color and shape. However, floral nectar plays an important role in pollinator adaptation, and is regulated by both genetic and environmental processes. Much remains to be discovered about the genetic and environmental factors influencing nectar trait variation and very few studies have incorporated metabolomic data when examining nectar adaptation to different animal pollinators. This research will: 1) describe nectar characteristics of four Aquilegia species adapted to different animal pollinators (e.g., bee, hummingbird, hawk moth) using a combination of developmental assays, transcriptomics, and metabolomics; 2) use high-resolution genetic mapping to identify loci controlling variation in nectar characteristics, including metabolites, between closely related taxa adapted to different animal pollinators, A. formosa (hummingbird) and A. pubescens (hawk moth); and 3) explore how environmental factors such as temperature and humidity affect nectar production and composition in two Aquilegia species using a combination of studies in wild populations and under controlled conditions. Together, these investigations will be the most comprehensive set of analyses yet implemented to explore the genetic and environmental factors influencing the evolution of nectar metabolomic variation in a plant system known for its floral adaptations to different animal pollinators.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

大多数开花植物都依靠动物传粉媒介来繁殖。鉴于吸引传粉媒介以完成其生命周期的重要性，许多植物已经进化为产生花蜜，这些花蜜由糖和其他营养素组成，这些植物可以为传粉媒介提供奖励。不同的动物传粉媒介（例如，蜜蜂，鸟类或飞蛾）有不同的代谢需求，以前的工作表明，适应不同授粉媒介的植物的数量和生物化学成分各不相同。但是，对控制花蜜产生的这种变异的基因知之甚少。这项工作结合了密切相关植物产生的花蜜成分的生化分析，这些植物已通过遗传分析适应了不同的授粉媒介，以识别控制花蜜体积和生物化学变异的基因。由于大约35％的农作物依赖动物传粉媒介，因此确定控制花蜜变化重要方面的基因可以帮助提高花蜜质量和授粉效率以提高作物产量。此外，这项工作还提供了许多机会来培训本科生和硕士学生在基因组学，代谢组学和生物信息学等领域进行研究，以准备追求高级学位或在STEM领域中获得职业。植物 - 胶合物相互作用是促进动物污染者的花朵多样化的驱动力，可以在隔离的方面进行隔离，并贡献了花卉构成的贡献，并贡献了贡献的贡献，并贡献了贡献的依据。先前关注对动物传粉媒介的花卉适应，主要集中在形态学特征上，例如颜色和形状。但是，花蜜在授粉媒介的适应中起着重要作用，并且受遗传和环境过程的调节。关于遗传和环境因素会影响花蜜特征的变化还有很多尚待发现，并且在检查对不同动物传粉媒介的花蜜适应性时，很少有研究纳入了代谢组数据。这项研究将：1）使用发育分析，转录组学和代谢组学的组合，描述适合不同动物传粉媒介（例如蜜蜂，蜂鸟，鹰蛾）的四种含水剂（例如，蜜蜂，蜂鸟，霍克飞蛾）的花蜜特征； 2）使用高分辨率的遗传图来鉴定包括代谢物（包括代谢物）在适应于不同动物传粉媒介的密切相关的分类群之间的局部控制变化，包括代谢产物，福尔摩萨（Hummningbird）和a o. bubescens（Hawk Moth）； 3）探索诸如温度和湿度之类的环境因素如何使用野生种群和受控条件下的研究结合两种水酸酯物种的花蜜产生和成分。总之，这些投资将是尚未实施的最全面的分析集，以探索遗传和环境因素影响植物体系中的nectar代谢组变异的演变，该植物系统以其对不同动物传粉媒介的花卉适应性而闻名。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的智力效果和广泛的评估来评估，这是NSF的法规任务，并被认为是珍贵的。