RCN: Molecular and Organismic Research in Plant History

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

Plants are responsible for over two-thirds of human caloric intake worldwide, and for the production of most of the oxygen that we consume with every breath. Yet despite the centrality of plants to human life and most ecosystems on Earth, their evolutionary history (from single-celled ancestors some 475 million years ago) has largely been overlooked in the increasingly dynamic field of developmental biology. Today, a century after Charles Darwin described aspects of the evolutionary history of plants as an "abominable mystery," much still remains unknown about how everything from leaves to roots to flowers evolved (the first plants lacked these structures). In light of the ongoing revolution in molecular biology, botanists now have the opportunity to decipher the developmental and evolutionary history of plants in ways that, even twenty years ago, could never have been imagined. The goal of the MORPH (Molecular and Organismic Research in Plant History) Research Coordination Network will be to foster cross-disciplinary interactions between organismic, paleontological and molecular biologists, all intent on solving Darwin's "abominable mystery" (and other long-standing questions about the evolution of plants). Major planned networking activities include 1) annual meetings/workshops, 2) support for cross-disciplinary training opportunities of students, postdoctorals, and early career faculty between organismic and molecular labs, 3) outreach activities to underrepresented groups in the sciences (through mini-symposia to be held at institutions with substantial minority student populations), and 4) development of a website for the MORPH RCN. The cross-disciplinary interactions of this RCN will provide a unique opportunity for students, postdoctorals and faculty to combine historically diverse fields and in turn develop research programs at the interface of evolutionary and developmental plant biology. The anticipated impact of the proposed network is nothing less than the invigoration of the discipline of plant evolutionary developmental biology and a nationally coordinated effort to elucidate the underlying developmental principles that have governed the diversification of plants over the last 500 million years.