Description du projet
Étude de l’interaction entre pollinisateur et fleur
Le rôle joué par les pollinisateurs et la diversité sexuelle des plantes dans l’évolution de la flore des écosystèmes méditerranéens est une cible privilégiée pour la recherche et la conservation de la biodiversité en Europe. Le projet FLAXMATE, financé par l’UE, va adopter une nouvelle approche quantitative pour étudier l’évolution des phénotypes d’accouplement (agencement des organes sexuels des fleurs) dans un groupe de 74 espèces du genre Linum. Apparentées au lin commun, ces espèces sont endémiques du bassin méditerranéen et de la région floristique du Cap, en Afrique du Sud. Le projet aura recours à deux nouvelles méthodologies fondées sur la morphométrie géométrique et 3D et les points quantiques pour analyser l’efficacité de la pollinisation en tant que moteur de la biodiversité aux niveaux macro et micro-évolutif.
Objectif
The role of pollinators and plant sexual diversity in the evolution of Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems (MTE) floras is a silver bullet target for biodiversity research and conservation in Europe. The setting of the floral sexual organs (the mating phenotype) has the most crucial implication in the function of the pollinator - flower interaction, i.e. in the efficiency of pollen transfer. However, it has never been studied quantitatively and in depth in evolutionary biology. FLAXMaTE will approach the evolution of the mating phenotypes in Linum, an intrinsically Mediterranean genus and a classic study system for the evolution of heterostyly with all its polymorphic species located in two MTE regions: the Mediterranean Basin (MB) and the Cape Floristic Region (CFR). In contrast with previous studies based in phenotypic categorisation or two-dimensional measures, I will for the first time characterize the mating phenotype of Linum species and their pollinators through an innovative three-dimensional geometric morphometric approach using computed tomography. To disentangle the macroevolutionary patterns of the mating phenotypes in Linum and the convergence of polymorphisms in MTEs, I will build a phylogeny of Old World yellow flaxes and I will use comparative methods to relate the evolution of the mating phenotypes with the MTE distribution, the pollination niche of species, and the diversification rates of the clade. The genomic basis of the convergence will be also studied through the sequencing of the S-locus in polymorphic MB and CFR species. To test the role of pollinators and the mating function as biodiversity drivers and agents of the evolutionary convergence of stylar polymorphisms, I will test the similarity in the mating function of Linum in pairs of populations and species from the MB and CFR through pollen transfer experiments using a novel methodology based in quantum dots.
Champ scientifique
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiological morphologycomparative morphology
- engineering and technologymedical engineeringdiagnostic imagingcomputed tomography
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrytransition metals
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesevolutionary biology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinateur
41004 Sevilla
Espagne