Collaborative Research: Diversification of the Self-incompatibility Locus in the Papaveraceae

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

Many plants can recognize and reject their own pollen in order to avoid the deleterious effects of self-fertilization. Current knowledge of pollen recognition systems in plants comes from just two molecular systems. This project will explore a third system, that of the poppy family. This system has several advantages for studying self-recognition including ease of mating-type determination and the availability of in-vitro assays of rejection reactions. The investigators will determine the history of different mating-type alleles at the self-recognition locus. The data will be used to test recent models of the development of self-recognition loci and will provide comparisons with other systems in which the selective forces are the same, but the molecular mechanisms of self-recognition differ. Self-recognition genes provide stunning examples of extreme genetic variation. The process underlying this variation is selection that continuously favors new or rare types. Selection favoring rarity underlies the diversification of the immune system genes in humans and may be responsible for the maintenance of sex in plants and animals. This study will contribute to our knowledge of the maintenance of variation at these loci which is required to maintain population viability. In addition, this project will provide extensive training for undergraduate and graduate student, including Native Alaskans.