SPECIFIC AIM
The overall objective of the proposed work is several fold. First is to provide a detailed morphological and molecular description of floral organ and fruit development at the resolution of specific tissues and cell types during key reproductive developmental stages in diploid strawberry (Fragaria vesca). The second objective is to investigate major questions concerning the complex interactions between achene (the seed bearing ovary) and the receptacle (the fruit) that underlie reproductive success and fruit yield. This genome-enabled study will take full advantage of an inbred diploid strain of F. vesca, Hawaii 4 (H4), recent completion of its genome sequencing, ease of transformation, and the transcriptome and morphological data generated in this study. Finally, the project will provide interdisciplinary training opportunities that are integral to the research plan to undergraduate students from a local HBCU and a regional public  university as well as a bioinformatic summer workshop for high school teachers from inner city Baltimore... More