In A. thaliana, alleles of R loci confer resistance by interacting with specific avirulence (avr) gene-dependent products of bacterial or fungal pathogens. The rapid progress being made in the molecular and functional characterization of R genes provides a timely opportunity to investigate the ecological or molecular population genetics of resistance in this species: essentially nothing is known about the extent of polymorphism at R gene loci, the age of alleles, or the geographical distribution of polymorphism. We propose to investigate why many R gene loci are polymorphic for two or more functional alleles by utilizing two complementary approaches for studying selection acting on resistance loci. First, we will perform a statistical analysis of DNA sequence polymorphism within and among populations (and species) at five R loci and along two chromosomes. Second, we will experimentally estimate the relative fitness of resistant and susceptible alleles at two loci, Rpm1 and Rps5, by constructing transgenic and control lines of A thaliana. Together, these studies will allow us to test specific selection models for the maintenance of polymorphism and the evolution of R genes in A. thaliana, and will allow us to make inferences about the spatio-temporal population dynamics of these host-pathogen interactions. Our data will enable us to test the widespread belief that there will be a rapid selective turnover of R alleles resulting from an evolutionary arms race between pathogen and host. We will also test for evidence of long-term evolutionary maintenance of allelic variation at R loci, a prediction made by a subclass of theoretical models of gene-for-gene coevolution. These tests require information on background levels of polymorphism, which we will generate through a systematic survey of nucleotide polymorphisms along two chromosomes of A. thaliana. Information on the extent and spatial patterning of molecular genetic variation is integral to testing for historical evidence of selection at R loci, and will help establish Arabidopsis as a model system for molecular evolutionary studies on a wealth of plant traits.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM057994-03
Application #
6181277
Study Section
Genetics Study Section (GEN)
Program Officer
Eckstrand, Irene A
Project Start
1998-07-01
Project End
2002-06-30
Budget Start
2000-07-01
Budget End
2001-06-30
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2000
Total Cost
$159,412
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Chicago
Department
Biology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
225410919
City
Chicago
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
60637
MacQueen, Alice; Sun, Xiaoqin; Bergelson, Joy (2016) Genetic architecture and pleiotropy shape costs of Rps2-mediated resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana. Nat Plants 2:16110
Zhang, Xiaohui; Yang, Sihai; Wang, Jiao et al. (2015) A genome-wide survey reveals abundant rice blast R genes in resistant cultivars. Plant J 84:20-28
Karasov, Talia L; Kniskern, Joel M; Gao, Liping et al. (2014) The long-term maintenance of a resistance polymorphism through diffuse interactions. Nature 512:436-440
Horton, Matthew W; Bodenhausen, Natacha; Beilsmith, Kathleen et al. (2014) Genome-wide association study of Arabidopsis thaliana leaf microbial community. Nat Commun 5:5320
Bodenhausen, Natacha; Horton, Matthew W; Bergelson, Joy (2013) Bacterial communities associated with the leaves and the roots of Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS One 8:e56329
Horton, Matthew W; Hancock, Angela M; Huang, Yu S et al. (2012) Genome-wide patterns of genetic variation in worldwide Arabidopsis thaliana accessions from the RegMap panel. Nat Genet 44:212-6
Huang, Yu S; Horton, Matthew; Vilhjálmsson, Bjarni J et al. (2011) Analysis and visualization of Arabidopsis thaliana GWAS using web 2.0 technologies. Database (Oxford) 2011:bar014
Kniskern, Joel M; Barrett, Luke G; Bergelson, Joy (2011) Maladaptation in wild populations of the generalist plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. Evolution 65:818-30
Hu, Tina T; Pattyn, Pedro; Bakker, Erica G et al. (2011) The Arabidopsis lyrata genome sequence and the basis of rapid genome size change. Nat Genet 43:476-81
Atwell, Susanna; Huang, Yu S; Vilhjálmsson, Bjarni J et al. (2010) Genome-wide association study of 107 phenotypes in Arabidopsis thaliana inbred lines. Nature 465:627-31

Showing the most recent 10 out of 15 publications