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, much remains unknown about the developmental basis of how populations of plants within a single species diverge to become two separate species. For the first time since Charles Darwin opened up the evolutionary paradigm of descent with modification through natural selection, we have the opportunity to understand the developmental underpinnings of evolutionary change within populations and species at the level of the genome (DNA). This is especially true in light of the recent explosive growth in genetic and genomic information now available for a wide diversity of plant species. This award will facilitate networking and research coordination among scientists investigating these issues.
Major planned networking activities include 1) a series of intergenerational and interdisciplinary workshops involving graduate students and faculty, 2) support for cross-disciplinary training opportunities for students (undergraduate summer internships and graduate rotations away from the home institution), postdoctoral scholars, and junior faculty, 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 microMORPH Reasearch Coordination Network (RCN). The broadly inclusive and cross-disciplinary interactions of this RCN will provide a unique opportunity for students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty to combine historically diverse fields and in turn to develop research programs at the interface of microevolutionary and developmental plant biology. The overarching goal of the microMORPH RCN is to integrate contrasting approaches to the study of speciation and diversification of plants by linking genes (DNA) through development to morphology, and ultimately to adaptation and fitness, within the dynamic context of natural populations and closely related species.
