IMAGiNE: The genetic, developmental, and physiological mechanisms of plant local adaptation to oceanic salt spray

IMAGiNE：植物局部适应海洋盐雾的遗传、发育和生理机制

• 批准号: 2153100
• 负责人: David Lowry
• 金额: $ 77.26万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 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: 2022-06-01 至 2025-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2153100&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IMAGiNE; genetic; developmental; physiological; mechanisms

A fundamental goal of biology is to understand how and why biological organisms evolve, from the level of genes to ecosystems. This research explores these evolutionary processes by studying the yellow monkeyflower, Mimulus guttatus, and how it adapts to oceanic salt spray. For a long time, scientists have known that salt spray influences which plant species can survive near the ocean. However, little is known about how plants evolve adaptations to live in coastal areas in the first place. The research focuses on understanding how coastal monkeyflower populations evolved to 1) avoid salt spray by remaining short and not flowering during windy periods, 2) resist salt spray by preventing it from entering plant tissues, and 3) tolerate salt spray by transporting salt to parts of the plant where it will cause the least amount of damage. Overall, this research should uncover multiple dimensions of these adaptations from the gene to the population level. The research will also result in the development of new tools for genetic engineering of monkeyflowers. Ultimately, the work will expand understanding of plant evolution and aspects of plant resilience in challenging environments, with potential applications for agricultural crops. The results of the research will be incorporated into educational materials, including a comic book and audio podcasts. To evaluate these educational materials, the investigators are working directly with teachers and hundreds of low-income minority high school students in Flint, MI through hands-on inquiry-based research.The proposed research aims to understand the genetic, developmental, morphological, and physiological mechanisms of local adaptation of the coastal perennial ecotype of Mimulus guttatus to oceanic salt spray. The extensive tools available for M. guttatus will facilitate studies of adaptation for multiple genes within gene networks. The research is divided into three aims, each of which is focused on a key component of salt spray adaptation: avoidance, resistance, and tolerance. Aim 1 is focused on understanding the mechanisms of locally adaptive salt spray avoidance by the coastal ecotype through the evolution of a compact growth form and a late-season flowering time. The research will test whether the developmental divergence between coastal and inland ecotypes underlying salt spray avoidance is caused by the evolution of genes within the gibberellin hormone gene network. Aim 2 will evaluate the role of morphological divergence between coastal and inland ecotypes in resistance to salt spray entry into plant tissues once it has landed on aerial plant organs. Aim 3 will evaluate the genetic and physiological mechanisms of salt spray tolerance once salt has entered aboveground plant tissues. Sodium transport at both the level of entire leaf organs and individual leaf cells will be examined to test the hypothesis that the coastal ecotype has higher tolerance by pumping sodium out of the cytosol into the apoplast and vacuoles. Overall, the research will lead to an increased understanding of how fitness in stressful environments is an emergent property of multiple complex organismal adaptations.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.

生物学的一个基本目标是了解生物有机体如何以及为何进化，从基因水平到生态系统。这项研究通过研究黄猴花（Mimulus guttatus）及其如何适应海洋盐雾来探索这些进化过程。长期以来，科学家们都知道盐雾会影响哪些植物物种可以在海洋附近生存。然而，人们对植物最初如何进化适应沿海地区的生活知之甚少。该研究的重点是了解沿海猴花种群如何进化到：1）通过保持较短的花期并且在刮风期间不开花来避免盐雾；2）通过防止盐雾进入植物组织来抵抗盐雾；3）通过将盐输送到部位来耐受盐雾造成损害最小的植物。总体而言，这项研究应该揭示从基因到种群水平的这些适应的多个维度。该研究还将导致猴花基因工程新工具的开发。最终，这项工作将扩大对植物进化和植物在充满挑战的环境中的恢复能力的理解，并在农作物上具有潜在的应用。研究结果将被纳入教育材料，包括漫画书和音频播客。为了评估这些教育材料，研究人员直接与密歇根州弗林特市的教师和数百名低收入少数族裔高中生合作，通过基于实践的探究研究。拟议的研究旨在了解遗传、发育、形态和沿海多年生生态型酸浆对海洋盐雾的局部适应的生理机制。可用于 Guttatus 的广泛工具将促进基因网络内多个基因的适应研究。该研究分为三个目标，每个目标都集中在盐雾适应的一个关键组成部分：避免、抵抗和容忍。目标 1 的重点是了解沿海生态型通过紧凑的生长形式和晚季开花时间的进化来局部适应盐雾避免的机制。该研究将测试沿海和内陆生态类型之间避免盐雾的发育差异是否是由赤霉素激素基因网络内的基因进化引起的。目标 2 将评估沿海和内陆生态类型之间的形态差异在盐雾降落在气生植物器官上后对盐雾进入植物组织的抵抗力中的作用。目标 3 将评估盐进入地上植物组织后耐盐雾的遗传和生理机制。将检查整个叶器官和单个叶细胞水平的钠转运，以检验沿海生态型通过将钠从细胞质泵入质外体和液泡而具有更高耐受性的假设。总体而言，该研究将加深人们对压力环境中的适应性如何成为多种复杂生物适应的新兴特性的理解。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查进行评估，被认为值得支持标准。