Integration of floral traits underlying pollinator-driven ecological speciation

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Philipp Schlüter
• Subject Area: Evolution and Systematics of Plants and Fungi ; Developmental Biology ; Plant Genetics and Genomics ; Organismic Interactions, Chemical Ecology and Microbiomes of Plant Systems
• Term: from 2020 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 440145319

Speciation, the origin of novel species, is the engine that drives the generation of new biodiversity and fuels evolutionary diversification. Ecological speciation, that is speciation driven by divergent selection, is a fundamental biological process. Although there has been interest in this phenomenon ever since Darwin, many questions about the conditions under which – and mechanisms by which – it occurs are not yet completely answered. One factor that is thought to be critical to the pace at which ecological speciation can occur is the speed at which an organism can respond to divergent selection, which in turn depends on the complexity of the traits upon which selection acts. Specifically, the response to selection – and hence speciation – may be swift if genes underlying several traits under selections are either (i) close together in the genome, making it likely for suites of variants at these genes to be coinherited, or (ii) if these traits share common aspects of their development or genetic regulation. The present project seeks to understand the extent of genomic and developmental integration of traits under pollinator-mediated selection in the context of an example case of plant accelerated diversification in the orchid Ophrys. Here, ecological speciation is mediated by different pollinator preferences, pollinators being fooled by the orchid into interaction with the flowers by copying female insects’ sex pheromones, along with visual and tactile flower traits. By mining and extending emerging genomic resources, this project will use a timely combination micro-evo-devo and speciation (pan-)genomics to fill critical gaps in our knowledge on the genetics underlying floral traits and their regulation. In so doing, this project will address fundamental questions relevant to our understanding of plant diversity and diversification.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants