Organisms allocate resources to a variety of activities, such as reproduction, growth, and maintenance, and it is generally perceived that the allocation of resources to any one activity occurs at the expense of the other activities. Plants provide an excellent opportunity to determine how resource allocation strategies are affected by the sex of an individual, as many genera contain species that vary in their sex expression. Within the genus Silene, there are species that are hermaphroditic (both sexes in one individual) and others that are dioecious (separate male and female individuals). It has been shown for one of the dioecious species of Silene that males and females have very different resource allocation patterns. Dr. Delph's long-term research plans include investigating how these differences evolved. In order to do so, it is necessary to unambiguously determine the sex of plants early in their development. At the present time, the sex of an individual can only be determined when it is flowering. The grant will provide necessary funds to develop molecular techniques that would enable sex determination prior to flowering. In addition, a protocol for a technique will be developed to detect differences between the sexes in where resources for flowering and fruiting originate within the plant.
