COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Parallel and non-parallel evolution at multiple levels: environment, selection, phenotype, and genotype

合作研究：多个层面的平行和非平行进化：环境、选择、表型和基因型

• 批准号: 1144773
• 负责人: Daniel Bolnick
• 金额: $ 45万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-07-15 至 2016-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1144773&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Parallel; non; parallel

A fundamental puzzle in evolutionary biology is whether evolution is repeatable: if many identical starting populations were exposed to the same type of novel environment, would they all evolve the same adaptations? Would the adaptations result from changes in the same underlying genes? This research project aims to answer both questions using a small fish, the threespine stickleback, as a study subject. The same ocean-dwelling form of stickleback colonized many separate river basins when the glaciers melted ~12,000 years ago, providing a naturally occurring experiment to test the repeatability of evolution. The researchers will measure environmental, morphological, and genetic divergence between adjacent lake and stream populations of stickleback, from each of 16 watersheds that represent separate instances of evolved lake-stream differences. They will then apply state-of-the-art statistical analyses to measure the extent to which differences between lake and stream types have evolved repeatedly or are unique to each watershed. Genetic analysis will reveal the extent to which repeated morphological differences result from evolutionary changes in the same genes. The project will reveal general principles of how predictable evolutionary change is, and pioneer relevant statistical methods. Such principles and methods are vital to anticipating how pests or diseases may evolve in response to pesticides or drugs, or how species will adapt to climate change. In addition, the project will pair up leading biological researchers with high-school biology teachers and pre-service teachers-in-training, giving K-12 science teachers practical research experience involving fundamental principles of evolutionary biology.

进化生物学的基本难题是进化是否可以重复：如果许多相同的起始群体暴露于相同类型的新型环境中，它们都会发展相同的适应性吗？适应会导致相同基因的变化吗？该研究项目旨在使用小鱼（三杆粘背型）作为研究主题来回答这两个问题。当冰川融化约12，000年前时，相同的海洋居民形式殖民了许多独立的河流盆地，提供了自然发生的实验以测试进化的重复性。研究人员将从16个分水岭中的每个分水岭中的每一个中衡量邻近湖泊和溪流种群之间的环境，形态和遗传差异。然后，他们将应用最新的统计分析来衡量湖泊和溪流类型之间差异反复演变或每个流域独有的程度。遗传分析将揭示重复的形态差异导致同一基因进化变化导致的程度。该项目将揭示出可预测的进化变化以及相关统计方法的一般原则。这种原理和方法对于预测有害生物或疾病如何响应农药或药物，或物种如何适应气候变化至关重要。此外，该项目将将领先的生物学研究人员与高中生物学教师和培训前教师配对，从而为K-12科学教师提供了涉及进化生物学基本原理的实践研究经验。