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Genetic origin, developmental mechanism, and evolutionary process of a novel phenotype in Mimulus (monkeyflowers)

Award Number: R01GM131055
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENERAL MEDICAL SCIENCES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

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Project Summary The emergence of qualitatively distinct new structures or patterns (e.g., turtle shells, beetle horns, butterfly color patterns, plant flowers) is one of the most fascinating aspects of organismal evolution. How such novel, complex traits have originated and evolved remains one of the most important yet challenging problems of evolutionary biology. It is widely assumed that novel structures or patterns arise by co-option or rewiring of pre-existing developmental programs, but we know very little about the specific genetic changes that trigger such co-option or developmental rewiring, how the genetic changes translate to novel phenotypes, what kind of developmental pre-settings or cryptic pre-patterns are required for the the trigger gene(s) to produce the novel phenotype and how these cryptic pre-patterns come about, and how the novel phenotypes rise in frequency in natural habitats (i.e., the evolutionary process). This project is to address these fundamental questions by studying a novel, qualitatively distinct, pigmentation pattern that evolved very recently in a wild population of Mimulus verbenaceus (crimson monkeyflower), a species amenable to genetic and developmental manipulations as well as evolutionary analyses or/and ecological interrogations. We propose to: (i) Identify the causal gene and mutation(s) underlying the novel pigmentation pattern by genetic mapping and transgenic experiments; (ii) Characterize the developmental pre-settings (cryptic pre- patterns) required for the formation of the novel pigmentation pattern by identifying multiple upstream activators and repressors, through analysis of chemically induced mutants with altered pigmentation patterns; (iii) Elucidate the evolutionary process through which the novel phenotype rose in frequency in the natural habitat by population genomics analyses and field experiments. We anticipate that these studies will, for the first time, provide a detailed view of the genetic and developmental mechanisms as well as the evolutionary process driving the emergence of a novel phenotype in nature. The successful completion of this project is also expected to help move the field forward by shifting the focus from correlational studies and just-so stories of morphological innovations that happened in the distant past, to rigorous genetic, developmental, and evolutionary analyses of novel phenotypes that are still in the initial stage of emergence.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $322,000 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133	STORRS	CT	06269	TOLLAND	USA	Biomedical Research and Research Training	000	5	2/14/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$289,800
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133	STORRS	CT	06269	TOLLAND	USA	Biomedical Research and Research Training	001	5	4/14/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$32,200
														Subtotal = $322,000

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $299,189 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133	STORRS	CT	06269	TOLLAND	USA	Biomedical Research and Research Training	001	4	7/26/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$29,919
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133	STORRS	CT	06269	TOLLAND	USA	Biomedical Research and Research Training	000	4	2/4/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$269,270
														Subtotal = $299,189

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $311,991 )
2021	2021	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133	STORRS	CT	06269	TOLLAND	USA	Biomedical Research and Research Training	000	3	2/4/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$311,991
														Subtotal = $311,991

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $322,000 )
2020	2020	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133	STORRS	CT	06269	TOLLAND	USA	Biomedical Research and Research Training	000	2	2/26/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$322,000
														Subtotal = $322,000

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $321,000 )
2019	2019	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133	STORRS	CT	06269	TOLLAND	USA	Biomedical Research and Research Training	000	1	2/26/2019	NEW	$321,000
														Subtotal = $321,000

Grand Total All Awards = $1,576,180

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Genetic origin, developmental mechanism, and evolutionary process of a novel phenotype in Mimulus (monkeyflowers)

Award Number: R01GM131055

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENERAL MEDICAL SCIENCES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

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