Genetic mechanisms of rapid adaptive evolution in an outbred natural population

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

Recent studies clearly show that evolution can be very rapid, with substantial genetic change in traits occurring in as little as five to 10 generations. Rapid evolution occurs in response to major environmental changes, both natural and human-mediated. However, the genetic mechanisms underlying the rapid evolution of traits are unknown. Wild radish flowers represent an excellent model system to investigate these genetic mechanisms. Previous NSF-supported projects on this species have produced both abundant genome sequence data and demonstrated rapid evolution of floral traits that are essential to plant reproduction. This project will determine the genetic mechanisms underlying the extremely rapid evolution of adaptive floral traits in wild radish by combining traditional approaches from plant breeding with cutting-edge molecular genetic and genomic techniques. In addition to improving our overall understanding of adaptive evolution, the proposed project will provide new insights into the mechanisms of successful reproduction in wild radish, one of the world's most damaging agricultural weeds. It will also produce fundamental genetic knowledge. Most genetic studies use highly inbred laboratory strains, but most animals (including humans) and many plants occur naturally in highly outbred populations. To fully understand the genetics of any trait, including a genetic disease, the effects of the genes need to be studied in their naturally outbred state; this project will develop and test new methods for this purpose.