Restricted Research - Award List, Note/Discussion Page
Fiscal Year: 2023
2278 The University of Texas Permian Basin (144166)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Daivd Hembry
Total Amount of Contract, Award, or Gift (Annual before 2011): $ 502,998
Exceeds $250,000 (Is it flagged?): Yes
Start and End Dates: 4/1/23 - 3/31/26
Restricted Research: YES
Academic Discipline: Biology
Department, Center, School, or Institute: Biology Department
Title of Contract, Award, or Gift: BRC-BIO: Evolution and ecology across the mutualism-parasitism transition in leafflower plants (Phyllanthaceae) and leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae: Epicephala)
Name of Granting or Contracting Agency/Entity:
National Science Foundation
CFDA Link: NSF
47.074
Program Title:
n/a
CFDA Linked: Biological Sciences
Note:
Overview: Transitions between mutualism and parasitism have occurred frequently throughout the Tree of Life. New cases of mutualism breakdown into parasitism continue to be reported, suggesting that study of the biology of these lineages that have undergone this transition may shed light on the evolution of this transition. This proposal outlines research on the evolution and ecology of a specialized pollination mutualism (between leafflower plants in the family Phyllanthaceae and leafflower moths in the genus Epicephala) that has repeatedly broken down into parasitism. This research will gather the first data on the ways in which these parasites’ population structure evolves in response to their host diversity, the macroevolution of mutualism gain and loss in an unstudied tropical North American radiation of these plants and insects, and the way in which third party associates (larval microbiomes) vary with the mutualism-parasitism transition and shifts among host plant lineages. SAMs 1.1.1
Discussion: No discussion notes