RIG: The Behavior and Genetics of Phenotypic Differentiation in the Barn Swallow Species Complex

RIG：家燕复合体表型分化的行为和遗传学

• 批准号: 0717421
• 负责人: Rebecca Safran
• 金额: $ 17.5万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-12-01 至 2011-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0717421&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RIG; Behavior; Genetics; Phenotypic; Differentiation

Determining the underlying mechanisms that drive biological diversification is a central pursuit in Biology. Sexual selection -- the evolution of exaggerated male ornamental traits based on differential mating success of males -- is important for shaping a male's appearance within populations, but this evolutionary mechanism may also have an important role in population-level diversification. Speciation by sexual selection occurs when changes in mate preference and the expression of male ornaments within a population leads to isolation among populations because individuals from separate populations no longer recognize one another as potential mates. This project will take advantage of an extremely tractable and widespread species complex, the barn swallows (Hirundo rustica), which are represented by six sub-species world-wide, each possessing varying combinations of morphological and behavioral traits that are known to be under sexual selection. Experiments to test hypotheses about the role of sexual selection underlying morphological, genetic, and behavioral differentiation among populations will be based in the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel where these traits are most divergent. Along with these experiments, larger-scale analyses of historical colonization patterns and genetic differentiation using the latest genomics tools will be conducted. This complementary set of analyses will provide a novel, important and comprehensive contribution to our understanding of fundamental evolutionary processes.Several collaborative projects will directly engage students in this research. For example, the PI will collaborate with the Alliance for Technology, Learning, and Society (ATLAS) at the University of Colorado (CU) whose resources will be leveraged to develop a media-based course focused on evolutionary and behavioral biology. The PI, a young investigator in her first tenure track position, will take also take advantage of unique funding opportunities for under-represented graduate students at CU, including the NSF- and NIH-sponsored Colorado Diversity Initiative.

确定驱动生物多样化的基本机制是生物学的核心追求。 性选择 - 基于男性差异交配成功的夸张的男性观赏性状的演变 - 对于塑造男性在人群中的外观很重要，但是这种进化机制也可能在人口水平的多样化中起重要作用。当伴侣偏好的变化和人口中男性装饰的表达导致人群之间的隔离时，通过性选择的形态发生，因为来自单独人群的个人不再彼此认识到潜在的伴侣。 该项目将利用一种极其易于探索和广泛的物种复合物，谷仓燕子（Hirundo Rustica）由全球六个亚种代表，每种都具有不同的形态和行为性状组合，这些特征已知在性选择下。测试人群中性选择作用的假设的实验将基于美国，英国和以色列，这些特征是最不同的。除这些实验外，还将使用最新的基因组学工具对历史定植模式和遗传分化进行大规模分析。 这种互补的分析集将为我们对我们对基本进化过程的理解做出一项新颖，重要和全面的贡献。几乎的合作项目将直接吸引学生参与这项研究。例如，PI将与科罗拉多大学（CU）的技术，学习和社会联盟（ATLAS）合作，该联盟将利用资源来开发针对进化和行为生物学的媒体课程。 PI是她的第一个任期职位的年轻调查员，还将利用CU代表性不足的研究生的独特资金机会，包括NSF和NIH赞助的Colorado多样性倡议。