Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve

19 Apr, 03 AM - 19 Apr, 05 AM

How plants adapt to different soil types is a fundamental question in evolutionary biology. This project is designed to identify the genes and mutations that allow A. eximia to grow on serpentine soils. Aquilegia formosa is widespread, ranging from southern California northward through the coast ranges and Sierra Nevada to Alaska. Derived from A. formosa is A. eximia which occurs along the central California coast from Santa Barbara Co. to Sonoma and Lake Counties. While A. formosa grows on "normal" soils, A. eximia is found almost exclusively on serpentine soils, which are toxic to most plant species. Our goal is to identify regions of the Aquilegia genome that are strongly differentiated between A. formosa and A. eximia. To do this, we need to sample many populations of each species from within the range of A. eximia. We will collect leaf tissue from 30-100 individuals per population, extract the DNA and then pool equal molar amounts from each individual to form "population pools". We will then sequence the pools using next-generation sequencing and measure allele frequencies of DNA polymorphism across the entire genome. We will then search for regions that highly differentiate the species across all populations. In order to associate differences between species and populations, we also plan to collect and chemically characterize the soils from each population.

Visit #28402 @Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve

Approved

Under Project # 25202 | Research

Genetic Diversity of Aquilegia formosa and A. eximia

faculty - University of California, Santa Barbara

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Scott Hodges Apr 19, 2012 (1 days)

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