UNDERSTANDING HOW POLYPLOIDY GENERATES BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY IN NATURAL SYSTEMS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: TERMINATED
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1002975
• Project No.: MICL02323
• Project Start Date: Jul 1, 2014
• Project End Date: Jun 30, 2019

Project Director
Prather, L.

Recipient Organization
MICHIGAN STATE UNIV
(N/A)
EAST LANSING,MI 48824

Performing Department
Plant Biology

Non Technical Summary
Polyploidy is the condition in which an adult organism has more than two sets of chromosomes. There are numerous well-documented occurrences known in plants and polyploidy appears to have been frequent throughout the evolutionary history of flowering plants. Polyploidy is known to generate morphological diversity, genetic diversity, diversity in reproductive biology, ecological diversity, and even functional diversity. The relationship between polyploidy and diversity is important in evolution and ecology of natural systems, but polyploidy also plays a very important role in the origin of many crops and is critical in some breeding programs of crop and ornamental plants. Many crop plants, including major crops in Michigan, are of polyploidy origin, or have resulted from breeding programs that involve polyploidy. Corn, many varieties of wheat, potatoes, many cultivars of apples, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries are well-documented examples. However, research on polyploidy has focused on just a few traits, and most studies focus on a single origin of polyploidy in a single taxon. Research is needed, then, to determine the breadth of changes resulting from polyploidy across the morphological landscape of the polyploid plants and whether polyploid events generate the same changes in plants--either within a species or in closely related species. This project will address these questions by studying morphological variation in a series of polyploid populations of three closely related species of Phlox. Each of the three species has diploid (two sets of chromosomes), tetraploid (four sets of chromosomes), and hexaploid (six sets of chromosomes)populations. We will measure numerous morphological characters in multiple populations of each ploidy of each species, generating the largest data set documenting morphological change in polyploid systems known. We will also study differences in reproduction and ecology (physiology) at one site where diploids and tetraploids are known to occur. These studies will help us gain a broader understanding of how polyploidy works in natural systems, which will inform applied researchers using polyploidy in plant breeding programs.

Animal Health Component

0%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

100%

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
206	2420	1080	100%

Knowledge Area
206 - Basic Plant Biology;

Subject Of Investigation
2420 - Noncrop plant research;

Field Of Science
1080 - Genetics;

Keywords

polyploidy

native plants

phlox

biodiversity in natural systems

plant morphology

Goals / Objectives
The primary objects of this project are to:Determine how widespread the effects of polyploidy are within a species by measuring traits from gross plant morphology, vegetative morphology, reproductive morphology, and micromorphology (including but not limited to standard cell size metrics) across a series of natural diploid and polyploid populations.Repeat these measures across a few closely related species to see if the patterns that emerge are common across taxa, or if the effects of polyploidy are independent, even among closely related species.Test to see how variation in these features correlates with other possible explanations, including genetic relatedness of populations, geographic distance, and climatic variables, to see how the correlation between morphology and ploidy compares to other possible causes.Examine a mixed population of diploids and tetraploids and study the same suite of morphological characters as above, as well as pollination biology and environmental parameters near each individual plant to better understand how the morphological correlates of ploidy can affect physiological aspects of plant biology.

Project Methods
Study system: The proposed project focuses on three species of the genus Phlox (Polemoniaceae) as a study system: P. amabilis Brand, P. nana Nutt. and P. woodhousei (A. Gray) E. E. Nelson (Wilken & Porter 2005; Fehlberg & Ferguson 2012). These plants are part of the upright Phlox complex that is found in xeric mountains of the southwestern U.S. All three species are known from diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid populations (Fehlberg and Ferguson 2012). Polyploidy in these assemblages is recent, as evidenced by approximately additive genome sizes (e.g., nuclei of tetraploids exhibit roughly double the DNA content of those of diploids) and detection of multiple alleles in polyploid samples. Low morphological divergence among populations also supports this hypothesis (pers. obs.). Because multiple ploidy levels are found in all three species, and because they are known to be closely related (Ferguson et al. 1999; Ferguson & Jansen 2002; Ferguson et al. 2008) they are an ideal study system for this project.Sampling (Objectives 1-4): Morphological data and samples for more intensive study in the lab, will be collected from 25 individuals from at least 10 populations of P. amabilis (a "Species of Conservation Concern") including nearly all known populations of substantial size, at least 15 populations of P. woodhousei, and at least 25 populations of P. nana. Phlox nana will be studied more intensively because it has a larger distribution, is found in a greater diversity of habitats (pers. obs.), and has had a taxonomically complex history because it has greater morphological variability (Wilken and Porter 2005). Simply put, there is a concern that the current circumscription of P. nana may include two or more cryptic species--a possibility that can be tested with the data gathered during this study.Data acquisition (Objectives 1-4): Data collected will encompass several different categories of data, such as gross plant morphology (e.g. plant height, number of vegetative and flowering stems, number of flowers per stem, internode length), vegetative morphology (leaf length, width, and thickness) reproductive morphology (numerous features related to size of floral parts such as calyx length, corolla tube length, corolla tube diameter, stamen length, anther length, ovary length, style length, stigma length, and more as well as 2-D corolla lobe shape, pollen viability, etc.) and micromorphology (pollen size, guard cell size, guard cell density, foliar trichome density at different positions on the leaf, etc.). Morphological traits to be measured include all relevant vegetative and floral traits discussed by Stebbins (1950), Otto and Whitton (2000) and Balao et al. (2011).Several macromorphological traits will be measured in the field using standard field equipment. To collect the material needed to study other traits, we will collect material for further processing and data capture in the laboratory at MSU. Leaf peels from the undersurface of the uppermost pair of true leaves will be made in the field, collected, and stored in microcentrifuge tubes for analysis of guard cell size and stomatal density using compound microscopy in the lab. Leaf peels will be fixed to standard microscope slides and placed dry under a cover slip. These will be studied under a compound microscope and the number of stomata per unit area will be counted to estimate stomatal density. Several stomata will be photographed and measured using TPSDIG (Rohlf 2006).Unopened anthers will be removed from carefully dissected flowers in the field and stored in dry microcentrifuge tubes until analysis. Anthers will be dissected in Cotton Blue in lactophenol and stained for 25 hr. At that time several fields will be photographed to count the proportion of viable (stained) vs. non-viable (unstained) pollen grains. Photographs of individual grains of viable pollen will be made and measured using TPSDIG (Rohlf 2006).Leaves and flowers will be collected from each plant and stored in 0.25% glycerol in 75% ethanol for further processing and measuring in the laboratory at MSU. Morphological measurements, such as leaf length and width, corolla tube length, etc., will be made using standard calipers or by photographing the structures and measuring the traits from the image using TPSDIG (Rohlf 2006). The latter method is more labor intensive but is the only accurate way to measure tiny (< 5 mm) features. One corolla lobe will be excised and mounted in permount solution and imaged, and the TPS software suite (e.g. Rohlf 2006) will be used to define, measure, and analyze corolla lobe shape.Field experiments (Objective 4): To understand how ploidy affects morphology when controlling for environment, we will examine all the morphological traits studied across populations (see above) within a mixed population of P. amabilis that has been previously identified. This population has both diploid and tetraploid individuals, along with a few putative triploids.To explore phenotypic potential of traits potentially associated with pollination biology, we will conduct pollinator observations over a number of years in in this population, characterizing pollinator assemblages by capturing and identifying pollinators visiting flowers, measuring pollinator abundance by recording the frequency of visitation of each species, and testing the impact of floral morphological diversity on pollinator effectiveness (measured as pollen grain number delivered to the virgin stigma in a single visit). We will follow standard protocols and best practices when collecting these data (Kearns and Inouye 1993).To better understand how polyploidy effects physiology, we will study the mixed population and determine which environmental features co-vary with ploidy across the environment over a number of years. We will collect soil samples and have them analyzed in the Soil and Plant Nutrient Lab at MSU for standard soil characteristics, measure distance to nearest woody plant of at least 2cm dbh, characterize the composition of the nearby community for each test plant, measure percent cover, and measure soil moisture content.Data analyses (Objectives 1-4): Analytical approaches to studying the relationship between ploidy and morphology will include Pearson's correlation, ANOVA with ploidy as a fixed effect, and multivariate analyses (MANOVA, with cytotype as the main factor and important principle components [identified through separate analysis] as response variables in determining the impact of phylogenetic relatedness using Abouheif's C statistic, following Balao et al. [2011]).The PI's lab in Plant Biology at MSU has all the necessary equipment to perform the data acquisition and analyses, except for the soil samples which will be analyzed by the Soil and Plant Nutrient Lab.

Progress 07/01/14 to 06/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience were students, educators, and scientists. To achieve this result we published to papers in scientific journals, made oral presentations and presented papers at professional socieity meetings, gave invited talks in academic and public settings, we talked abour our research in classrooms (high school and college) and in public forums such as theMSU Science Festival and Darwin Day Celebrations and in public workshops at Desert Botanical Garden. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One master's student, Matt Chansler, has completed his thesis, defended and graduated. We worked closely with professional outreach staff (and others) at the Desert Botanical Garden to help them devise ways to integrate ploidy and evolution into public education programs at the garden. This work may be used as a model in other gardens if successful.One graduate student was employed on the project and developed her skills in statistical analysis and data visualization. Five undergraduates were employed by the project and developed skills in specimen curation , data management, data analysis, and presentation, as well as responsible conduct of research. Two undergraduate students worked on independent research projects associated with this project. They studied soil differences between cytotypes at different spatial scales in Phlox amabilis. One student's work was very successful and she will be a co-author on a forthcoming manuscript. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Several papers and many presentations at meetings were made based on work performed as part of this project (please see 'products'). We also created a learning module for use in high school classrooms that was used several times, presented this work in public forums, invited talks, and at a public outreach event at a major US botanical garden. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1) and 2) above: Polyploidy has widespread and predictable effects on morphology. For traits that are affected, size increases with ploidy. These effects are almost always detectable in many aspects of plant phenotype and thus are predictiable, supporting a polyploid paradigm for morphology. 3) Little linkage can be found between morphological traits and environmental niche after controlling for ploidy or relatedness, suggesting that ploidy is the primary driver of the morphological differences between cytotypes. Genetic distance determined by geographic distance, as is common in outcrossing plants that exhibit isolation by distance. We are able to conclude that while ecological differentiation is usually detectable among cytotypes, it does not occur in the same direction or to the same extent across different origins of polyploidization, providing very limited evidence for a "polyploid paradigm." 4) Diploid and tetraploid plants of Phlox amabilis at the only site where they are known to coexist were studied extensively. We find that at microspatial scales, plants of different ploidy are markedly ecologically divergent, existing on different soils, with different vegetation, and with different leaf mineral content. At the population level they are morphologically distinct and greater differences in floral morpology occur in sympatric than in allopatric plants, suggesting there may be selection for assortative mating.

Publications

Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience during the reporting year were students, educators, and scientists. To achieve this result we published one paper in a peer-reviewed, indexed journal, made two presentations at international professional society meetings, and prepared two additional manuscripts for submission. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Over the last year, two undergraduates have been trained in DNA extraction and sequencing and were involved in developing new primers for sequencing highly variable parts of the the chlorplast genone in Phlox. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have published one paper, made two presentations at meetings of professional societies, and made one at a seminar for the Department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to complete two manuscripts from our work on Phlox and submit those for publication and to sumbit a new proposal to NSF for funding on the next phase of our research.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1) We published a paper describing the variation in genome size in Phlox nana. Variation in genome size had previously confounded our assignment of ploidy to some of the size classes of nuclear DNA content that we encountered in the Davis Mountains of western Texas and the Pecos Plains of eastern New Mexico. The genomes of Phlox nana individuals are larger in the Davis Mountains and eastern New Mexico than in other parts of the species distribution. 2) We completed R scripts to characterize niche optimum and niche breadth in polyploids based on the environmental niche space tools of ecospatR (developed by Broennimann et al.). We then used these to estimate these parameters in our three species of Phlox. We learned that niche breadth tends to narrow in polyploids, though not without exception, and that niche optimum varies, but in unpredictable ways. These data will be incorporated into a manuscript on evolution on niches in cytotypes of three species of Phlox. 3) We wrote two manuscripts, one on genetic, morphological and environmental differences among cytotypes of Phlox amabilis and the other on environmental differences among cytotypes of three species of Phlox. These are to be submitted in the near future.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Ladner, Jamie, et al. "POLYPLOIDY AND GENOME SIZE VARIATION IN PHLOX NANA (POLEMONIACEAE) FROM THE PECOS PLAINS OF NEW MEXICO AND THE DAVIS MOUNTAINS OF WEST TEXAS, USA." Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 11.2 (2017).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Prather, L. A., S. D. Fehlberg, and C. J. Ferguson. 2018. Polyploid niches differ from those of diploids, but not in predictable ways, in three species of Phlox. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America (New Orleans, LA).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Heberling, J. M., L. A. Prather, and S. J. Tonsor. 2018. The changing roles of herbaria in an era of global change: A systematic review. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America (New Orleans, LA).

Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience during the reporting year were students, educators, and scientists. To achieve this result wepublished to papers in scientific journals, the PI gave one invited seminar another University in Michigan, we gave five oral presentations or posters at national or international scientific professional society meetings, and we talked abour our research in one class and in the MSU Science Festival and Darwin Day Celebration. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One graduate student and several undergraduates participated in this project over the last year. Two undergraduates are now working on independent projects that are related to the larger project. One is involved in studying the role of hybridization in ecological adaptation and the second is studying cytotypic variation in an area where two species co-occur. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have published a scientific resaerch paper during this period, given five oral or poster presentations at meetings and have spoken at one university for an invited talk. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, we plan to publish a manscript on genome size variation in Phlox nana, complete data analyses on variation in a contact zone between diploid and tetraploid Phlox amabilis, and complete a manuscript on niche variation among the three cytotypes of the three species that we are studying.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In the last reporting period, we accomplished: 1) Clarification of variation in genome size in Phlox nana. This was a contributing factor in our difficulty in assigning ploidy to some populations in the Davis Mountains of western Texas and the Pecos Plains of eastern New Mexico. We now know that genomes of Phlox nana individuals are larger in the Davis Mountains then they are elsewhere. This raises the possibility that the Davis Mountain plants may be a new species.Within the Davis Mountains region, both diploid (2n=14) and tetraploid (2n=28) cytotypes were documented, with a parapatric distribution. Overall, this study clarifies patterns of cytotypic diversity inP. nana, highlights an example of infraspecific, homoploid genome size variation, and contributes to a framework for ongoing evolutionary investigation in this study system. These results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal during the next reporting period. 2) The first results of niche modeling indicate that the polyploid paradigm does not apply to this system in terms of ecological diversification. We used flow cytometry and environmental niche methods to test for differences among diploids, tetraploids and hexaploids of three species across their range. In Phlox nana, the cytotypes are poorly differentiated ecologically. Most comparisons of diploids, tetraploids, and hexaploids, show that there are no significant differences in environmental niches. On the contrary, in Phlox woodhousei, diploids and tetraploids have markedly different niches. Hexaploids are known from only one locality, so they could not be included in this study. Finally, in Phlox amabilis, hexaploids are markedly different from diploids and tetraploids. However, the latter cytotypes were indistinguishable at the landscape level. 3). Despite the lack of differences at the largest geographic scale among environmental niches of Phlox amabilis diploids and tetraploids, closer examination of these cytotypes at the intermediate and local scales show that these cytotypes are markedly distinct. Across the Santa Maria and Juniper Mountains of northwestern Arizona, cytotypes are different for at least one environmental parameter. At the very local scale, at one site where diploids and tetraploids co-occur, there is a sharp contrast in microhabitat. Various features of soil, vegetation, leaf mineral content, and plant morphology are significantly different among cytotypes at the scale of only a few meters, suggesting that they co-occur at this site only because of a natural cline in environmental conditions.?

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Monfils, A. K., K. E. Powers, C. J. Marshall, C. T. Martine, J. F. Smith, and L. A. Prather. 2017. Natural History Collections: Teaching about biodiversity across time, space, and digital platforms. Southeastern Naturalist 16 (Special Issue 10):47-57.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Zumwalde, B, L. A. Prather, C. J. Ferguson, and S. D. Fehlberg. 2017. Fine-scale population genetic, morphological and ecological segregation of Phlox amabilis diploid and tetraploid cytotypes in a contact zone. Presented by B.Z.at Botany 2016, (Fort Worth, TX).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Ladner, J., M. H. Mayfield, L. A. Prather, and C. J. Ferguson. 2017. Polyploidy and diversity in Phlox: Genome size variation in tetraploid P. nana Nutt. (Polemoniaceae). Presented by M. H. M. at Botany 2016, (Fort Worth, TX).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Scharnagl, K., and L. A. Prather. 2017. Using collections data to explore patterns of lichen diversity across the North American landscape. Presented at Botany 2016, (Fort Worth, TX).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Ferguson, C. J., L. A. Prather, K. Waselkov and S. D. Fehlberg. 2017. Understanding the contribution of polyploidy to diversity in the plant genus Phlox: from morphology to phylogenomics. Ecological Genomics Research Forum, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS. (invited long talk)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Scharnagl, K., and L. A. Prather. 2017. Mapping lichen diversity: A comparison of georeferenced data and sequence data. Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior Symposium (East Lansing, MI).

Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience in this reporting period were plant scientists and educators. To reach the former audience we published two papers on our research and made one oral presentation at a national meeting. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One graduate student was employed on the project and developed her skills in statistical analysis and data visualization. Five undergraduates were employed by the project and developedskills in specimencuration, data management, data analysis, and presentation, as well as responsible conduct of research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Publications and presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period we plan to complete our fieldwork on Phlox amabilis, submit a manuscript on niche models of the three species for publication, and complete the data analysis of morphological variation.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. We published a paper describing in detail the morphological effects of polyploidy in Phlox amabilis. This paper among the first to study multiple populations of polyploids across the full distribution of a species and we studied a greater number of characters that has been examined before in this context. We show that polyploidy as a strong effect on morphology and is a major driver of diversity in species with cytotypic variation. This paper was highlighted by the publisher when it was released. 2. We published paper documenting variation in ploidy across the range of Phlox nana. This paper included documentation of ploidy in more populations than any prior study of any species of Phlox, and more than most studies ofNorth American species. Our findings provide one of the first inclusive studies from the sky island region of the southwestern US and highlighted the geographic complexity of ploidy distribution. 3. We undertook two major field expeditions to document ploidy at more sites across the range of our three focal taxa. These additional sites were used to study ecological patterns among the ploidies and species (see 4) 4. Our findings on environmental niche(niche models or species distribution models) in three closely related species of Phlox, all with cytotypic variation, provides important insight into the question of the predictability of the effects of polyploidy, aka the "polyploidy paradigm". Our results suggest that polyploidization does not have predictable effects on ecology in a system where the species are genetically, phylogenetically, and ecologically, similar. This does not support a polyploidy paradigm.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Chansler, M. T., C. J. Ferguson, S. D. Fehlberg, and L. A. Prather. "The role of polyploidy in shaping morphological diversity in natural populations of Phlox amabilis." American Journal of Botany 103.9 (2016): 1546-1558.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Wright, B. A., L. A. Prather, and C. J. Ferguson. 2016. Polyploidy in Phlox nana (Polemoniaceae): Diversity and distribution of cytotypes across a desert sky island region of North America. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 10: 45-63.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fehlberg, S. D, L. A. Prather, and C. J. Ferguson. 2016. Environmental niche differentiation in three diploid-polyploid complexes in southwestern Phlox (Polemoniaceae). Presented at Botany 2016, (Savannah, GA).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Monfils, A. K. L. Ellwood, D. Linton, M. Phillips, J. A. Cook, J. Kerski, T. Barbaro, S. Donovan, K. Powers, L. A. Prather and R. Guralnik. 2016. Natural history collections: Teaching about biodiversity across time, space, and digital platforms. Presented at the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections Annual Meeting, Berlin, Germany.

Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences for this reporting year were a group of docents and public education professionals associated with Desert Botanical Garden and other scientists. For the former group, we held two days of meetings and workshops focused on how to use public gardens to education and engage the public in scientific research, especially focusing on the evolution of polyploidy. For the latter, we made sevveral presenations to scientists at professional society meetings. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One master's student, Matt Chansler, has completed his thesis, defended and graduated. We worked closely with professional outreach staff (and others) at the Desert Botanical Garden to help them devise ways to integrate ploidy and evolution into public education programs at the garden. This work may be used as a model in other gardens if successful. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Two presentations were made at professional meetings this summer (see "products") and we had two days of workshops and presentations at Desert Botanical Garden to reach the education professionals and volunteers there. We have also continued to develop the education model mentioned in last year's report and it was used successfully in two classrooms this past year. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Field work will be continued, with a focus on finding new populations with ploidy varation. Data analsyis on the morpholgoical data set will be carried out. Chansler's thesis on morphological variation inP. amabilisand how it is associated with ploidy will be submitted for publcation.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We have completed morphological sampling, and added 5 new characters for over 1,500 plants of three species and three ploidy levels since the last reporting period. The new data include multivariate descriptors of shape which required imaging and measuring corolla lobe shape for the entire set of plants. Three species have now been completed, P. amabilis, P. nana, and P. woodhousei. In July, the PI attended a niche modelling workshop to being testing correlations between ecological niche and environmental characters. In this reporting year we sampled 12 new sites in the general region of Table Top Mountain, Prescott National Forest, Arizona, and determined ploidy for each of those sites. We also collected soil from five plants at each site, and those soil samples are currently being analyzed by a student on the project, who is working in collaboration with the MSU Soil Testing Lab.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Waselkov, K., S. D. Fehlberg, L. A. Prather, B. Wright, and C. J. Ferguson. 2015. Assessing allelic diversity in polyploid complexes of Phlox (Polemoniaceae) using next-generation amplicon sequencing. Oral presentation at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists and the Botanical Society of America (Edmonton, Albert, Canada).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Chansler, M. C., C. J. Ferguson, S. D. Fehlberg, and L. A. Prather. 2014. Analysis of Morphological Variation between Diploid, Tetraploid, and Hexaploid Phlox amabilis. Oral presentation at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists and the Botanical Society of America (Boise, ID).

Progress 07/01/14 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Biology educators that were attending the Botany 2014 Conference in Boise, ID were exposed to a teaching module focused on introducing high school students to concepts related to how polyploidy generates biodiversity. This module can also serve as a model of how to integrate ongoing research in to high school classrooms and has already been tested in a GK-12 classroom in Kansas. Furthermore, our two presenters, and this poster, were tweeted by NSF representatives at the meeting. See the associated poster information under "Products." Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? One Michigan State University graduate student is nearling completion of his MS Thesis based on a portion of this project. He has participated in a scientific meeting to present his work. Four undergraduate students are actilvely working on this project compling data, literature, and learning lab techniques to prepare them for careers in plant biology. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The brochures of the educational module have been made available to classrooms through a GK-12 program, ei-Drop, at Kansas State University. One talk and one poster related to the project have targeted scientific researchers and educators, respectively. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Further data accumulation is ongoing. Analyses of data will also be ongoing. Additional fieldwork is planned in April and September.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We have amassed detailed morphological collections of over 1,500 plants of three Phlox species from three states in the Southwestern US. These specimens are currently being studied in detail and a dataset of 26 characters are being recorded for each. These data will comprise the basis of the ongoing resarch for this project. Preliminary analyses show that ploidy is significantly assocated with over half the characters in the only species studied to date, Phlox amabilis. This is a remarkable finding.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Chansler, M. C., C. J. Ferguson, S. D. Fehlberg, and L. A. Prather. 2014. Analysis of Morphological Variation between Diploid, Tetraploid, and Hexaploid Phlox amabilis. Oral presentation at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists and the Botanical Society of America (Boise, ID).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Wright, B, M. Chansler, K. Waselkov, N. Busch, S. D. Fehlberg , L. A. Prather, and C. J. Ferguson. 2014. Engaging students in scientific discovery through a collaborative, multidisciplinary research project on polyploidy and plant biodiversity. Poster presentation at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists and the Botanical Society of America (Boise, ID).