E&E Seminar: “The genetic basis of self-pollen recognition in Phlox wildflowers” by Grace Burgin (Harvard University)
September 17, 2024
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Location
SELE 4289
Calendar
Download iCal FilePlease join us on 9/17/24 at 12:30 in SELE 4289 for an E&E Seminar featuring "The genetic basis of self-pollen recognition in Phlox wildflowers" by Grace Burgin (Harvard University)
Host: Boris Igic
Abstract: The rate of self-fertilization within a species has wide-reaching impacts on evolutionary change. To prevent self-fertilization, genetic mechanisms used to recognize and reject self-pollen (termed “self-incompatibility”) have evolved independently many times throughout flowering plant evolution. Of the few well-characterized mechanisms, each achieves self-incompatibility through distinct molecular pathways with a unique genetic basis, and most genetic self-recognition systems remain unknown. In this talk, I will discuss my work characterizing the genetic basis of self-pollen recognition in the wildflower Phlox drummondii (Polemoniaceae) using classic genetic crosses, genomic tools, and functional experiments. I find that a currently uncharacterized self-incompatibility mechanism has evolved in the lineage containing Phlox and identify the gene responsible for self-pollen recognition. More broadly, this work adds to our understanding of the diverse mechanisms through which flowering plants achieve the evolutionarily significant phenotype of self-recognition.
Date posted
Feb 27, 2024
Date updated
Aug 29, 2024