Why Sequence the Monkey Flower?
One of the challenges of 21st-century biology is to determine, at the DNA sequence level, the basis of adaptive evolution in nature. The flowering plant genus Mimulus (monkey flowers) has become a leading model system for studying ecological and evolutionary genetics in nature. JGI will sequence the species Mimulus guttatus. Since Darwin, Mimulus species have been used to investigate a wide range of topics of interest to ecologists and evolutionarybiologists, including plant adaptation to soils contaminated with heavy metals, mating system evolution, the genetic basis of inbreeding depression, plant/herbivore interactions, adaptive radiation of floral form, life history evolution, and the origin of new species. Compared to other plants whose genomes have been sequenced, Mimulus is uniquely suited for ecological and evolutionary studies because of its tremendous range of floral morphology (and associated pollinators), mating systems (selfing to outcrossing), growth forms (annual herbs t
