NSF Award
2401148
Understanding the processes that allow new species to establish is central to understanding the diversity of life on earth. A major macromutation where the whole genome is duplicated (known as polyploidy) is the most common form of instantaneous speciation in flowering plants. Global geographic patterns indicate that polyploid species are more frequent in stressful habitats. This research will use population-level experiments with a model aquatic species under varied stresses to elucidate mechanisms of polyploid success. It will contribute to society by expanding knowledge of polyploids which are important tools for improving agricultural crops, and of duckweeds which are emerging systems for wastewater remediation and biofuels. The work will promote broadening participation through student training, creation of new high school curricula and associated materials that link the effects of whole genome duplication to productivity under natural and agricultural settings. It will also create a children’s book aimed at solving community and societal problems using science.<br/><br/>The research fills a significant gap in our understanding of this critical biodiversity-generating process by answering the question of what determines when polyploids will go extinct, coexist with, or competitively exclude their non-polyploid ancestors? By combining the powerful analytic framework provided by Modern Coexistence Theory with the rigor of a highly manipulable and replicable experimental system, the work will transform knowledge of the formative early phase of polyploid existence. Specifically, thousands of reciprocal invasion experiments will be conducted with mixed ploidy communities that vary in functional divergence and phylogenetic distance and across abiotic and biotic conditions motivated by global patterns in polyploid prevalence. This population-level approach will test long standing hyptheses concering the role of abiotic/biotic stresses, functional traits and phenotypic plasticity in promoting polyploid persistence. The work will accelerate knowledge of this crucial phase in plant evolutionary history and explain global terrestrial and aquatic patterns of polyploidy.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
