Collaborative Research: EDGE FGT: Development of genetic and functional genomics resources for Ipomoea (morning glory)

Understanding how plants adapt to their environment has become more important than ever in a time of climate change. For many decades, morning glories have been the species of choice for studying fundamental questions in evolutionary biology, particularly for weedy morning glories, ornamentals, and the globally important food crop, sweetpotato. Such evolutionary studies can be aided through the application of modern molecular and genomic tools; yet, while morning glories are a captivating and economically important group, resources for linking genetics and variation in form are lacking.

This project combines state-of-the-art approaches to discover how changes in DNA influence plant form and ecological function including responses to environmental change. The development of these approaches in model morning glory species will broaden the scope of current evolutionary investigations. Further, the dissemination of newly developed genetic resources and research protocols will assist the larger research community studying the molecular basis of variation in plant traits and adaptations.

To reach a broad audience, including plant scientists and undergraduate students, YouTube videos will be developed as will methods designed for undergraduate laboratory courses in plant evolution, genetics, and genomics. Additionally, student artists will capture variation in morning glory traits from a garden display held at the Matthaei Botanical Garden, and these artistic renditions will be displayed at the Natural History Museum in Ann Arbor, Michigan, thus reaching the public via multiple avenues.

Novel transformation techniques using multiple Agrobacterium strains and the development of mutant lines via the use of fast neutrons (FN) have expanded transformation capabilities to a wider group of plants and have likewise allowed for the relatively rapid development of random mutations for understanding gene function. This project will adapt these methods to morning glory species (Ipomoea) that have been used in ecological and evolutionary genetics applications (I. purpurea, I. hederacea, I. lacunosa), species that are close relatives of the important crop sweetpotato (I. trifida and I. lacunosa), or phylogenetically useful outgroups (I. obscura).

Genetic mapping populations for I. lacunosa and I. purpurea will be generated, genotyped, and disseminated for use by scientists that seek to interrogate a number of evolutionary and applied questions. Gene expression profiles for these populations will likewise be generated. Education of the plant science community in transformation protocols and the distribution of resources are significant foci of this work.

An Ipomoea Wiki will be developed to integrate and disseminate protocols, videos, and sequence data links to allow researchers and educators to reconstruct the process of genetic transformation and to easily locate project data. Sequences will be deposited to public databases as generated, following initial cleaning steps. This project will support 1) training opportunities for undergraduate researchers along with members of the plant science community including graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and professors, 2) public displays and artistic renditions that capture the remarkable and memorable variation found within and between species belonging to the Ipomoea genus.

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.