| NSF Org: |
DEB Division Of Environmental Biology |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 22, 2011 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | February 1, 2012 |
| Award Number: | 1120761 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Simon Malcomber
smalcomb@nsf.gov (703)292-8227 DEB Division Of Environmental Biology BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | July 15, 2011 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2017 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $171,904.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $179,401.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2012 = $7,497.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1425 W LINCOLN HWY DEKALB IL US 60115-2828 (815)753-1581 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1425 W LINCOLN HWY DEKALB IL US 60115-2828 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Systematics & Biodiversity Sci |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001213DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
Over 10,000 species of grasses are known to science. Grasses proliferated rapidly, obscuring their historical relationships. This project integrates three broad approaches in a study of grass diversification using contemporary methods to reconstruct the genealogy of the grasses. Next generation DNA sequencing methods will be used to determine complete chloroplast genomes and subregions of the nuclear genome from at least 100 species. Bioinformatics analyses will explore patterns and rates of DNA sequence evolution. Studies of development, especially in leaves, will be used to test whether particular adaptations are correlated with historical migrations into new habitats.
Grasses are of fundamental economic and ecological importance. Rice, wheat, maize and other cereals supply half of human dietary calories. Wild grasses predominate over 25% of Earth's terrestrial landscape. A better understanding of their relationships is fundamental to predicting the response of grasslands and cereal crops to environmental change. Analyses of sequence data will clarify relationships and have broad application in evolutionary studies. Ecological adaptations will be better understood when viewed in a developmental context. An image-rich web site will be established, with content in English and Spanish, with information on grass structure, classification, and evolution. The new framework of grass relationships and accompanying web resources will appeal to a broad range of users and promote international collaborations.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Over 12,000 species of grasses are known to science. Grasses are the dominant types of plants in natural and agro-ecosystems. Rice, wheat, maize and other cereals supply half of human dietary calories. Wild grasses predominate in 25% of Earth's terrestrial landscapes. A complete, molecular understanding of these plants is fundamental to predicting the responses of grasslands and cereal crops to environmental change.
This project produced three types of information of fundamental use to the understanding of ecological diversification and evolution of grass plants. 1) High throughput DNA sequencing methods were used to determine the complete sequences of small genomes called "plastomes" for 200 different species of grasses (twice the number proposed) with representatives from each of the 12 main groups (subfamilies) of grasses. The same data were produced for 'Ohe (Joinvillea ascendens), a tropical "near-grass" plant as a comparison. All of these genomic DNA sequences are banked in a public database. 2) Expressed genes were sequenced using "next generation transcriptomics" for 13 species of grasses, and compared against plastome results. 3) Detailed anatomical studies of grass leaves were used to test whether particular adaptations were correlated with historical migrations into new habitats.
Analyses of sequence data clarified relationships and have broad applications in agronomy and bioinformatics. Our new framework of grass relationships is publicly available as are our extensive genomic and transcriptomic data. Changes in leaf shape, size and vein architecture were assessed using a new time-calibrated phylogeny. Leaf shape was found to closely track light-regime with the evolution of linear leaves (full sun) and ovate leaves (shade). The length and width of grass leaves vary together in response to moisture availability and solar radiation. Historical effects of habitat and climate on the development of functional C4 anatomy were observed.
Our research was conducted in collaboration with scientists from Mexico, Canada, Taiwan, India, etc. These projects/publications strengthened the cooperation and collegiality among international groups of scientists. Fourteen peer-reviewed papers were published and two others are under revision/review. One paper (Duvall et al. 2017) is one of the few existing papers published by cooperating North American and Indian authors.
Last Modified: 09/26/2017
Modified by: Melvin R Duvall
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