Abstract Detail

Recent Topics Posters

Differential gene expression and splicing in sunflower ecotypes.

An unusual ecotype of prairie sunflower (H. petiolaris) has adapted to the extreme abiotic conditions of Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado. It is rapidly diverging genetically and morphologically from its neighbors, enabling it to thrive on the tallest dunes in North America. We seek to understand the genetic mechanisms that underlie this incipient speciation. Regulation of gene expression is a critical link between genotype and phenotype and thus may play an important role in the adaptive divergence of wild populations. Although many studies have investigated differences in mRNA transcript abundance between ecotypes within a species, relatively few have considered differences in transcript structure (i.e. isoforms) that arise via the co-transcriptional process of alternative splicing. This mechanism allows organisms to generate multiple different protein products from a single gene and thus may provide a source of evolutionary novelty. I will present recent results from an ongoing study investigating differences in gene expression and splicing between dune and non-dune sunflower ecotypes of Great Sand Dunes National Park.

1 - University of Colorado, Boulder, EBIO, 1900 Pleasant Street, 334 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

Keywords:
alternative splicing
gene expression
Transcriptomics
population genetics
adaptation
sunflower.

Presentation Type: Recent Topics Poster
Number: PRT009
Abstract ID:1318
Candidate for Awards:None