DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Olfactory reproductive isolating mechanisms in swordtail fishes

论文研究：剑尾鱼的嗅觉生殖隔离机制

• 批准号: 1210324
• 负责人: Gil Rosenthal
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M University
• 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: 2012-08-15 至 2014-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1210324&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Olfactory; reproductive; isolating

Swordtails (Xiphophorus) are live-bearing fishes native to Central America and they are excellent models for studying animal behavior, especially mate choice. In many swordtails, males have an elongated ornament on their tail fins called a "sword", which has evolved in response to female mating preferences. Females also prefer the smell (pheromone) of males of their own species. Recent studies revealed that olfactory preference is either positively or negatively affected by early learning experience, depending on the species. X. malinche, for example, dislike the familiar male smell while its sister species X. birchmanni prefers it. Animals smell thanks to olfactory cells in their noses, which express odorant receptor genes, each specific to a particular set of molecules. There are about 200 types of odorant receptor genes in a Xiphophorus. This study will use high-throughput DNA sequencing to look at how many copies of each odorant receptor gene are expressed in the fish exposed to different adult species early in life. By comparing the expression patterns across the three experimental groups, we will try to pinpoint candidate receptors that are specialized for detecting species-specific pheromone cues. Broader impacts: This study can help us understand how learning and brain development work at a molecular level. During this project, one to two undergraduate students will be trained in biological computing and programming. Popular articles will continue to be contributed to Fishchum (http://fishchum.okstate.edu/), a web platform connecting fish biologists and aquarists. The findings from these studies will reach a multilingual audience as articles will be written in English, Chinese and Spanish and some findings will be used for outreach via popular hobbyist websites and/or magazines.

剑尾（Xiphophorus）是中美洲原产性的活鱼，它们是研究动物行为，尤其是伴侣选择的绝佳模型。在许多剑尾，男性在尾鳍上有一个细长的装饰品，称为“剑”，这是对女性交配偏好的响应而发展的。女性还喜欢自己物种的雄性气味（信息素）。最近的研究表明，根据物种的不同，嗅觉偏好要么受到早期学习经验的正面或负面影响。例如，X. Malinche不喜欢熟悉的男性气味，而其姐妹物种X. Birchmanni更喜欢它。动物闻起来得益于其鼻子中的嗅觉细胞，这些细胞表达了特定的一组分子。 Xiphophorus中大约有200种类型的气味受体基因。这项研究将使用高通量DNA测序来研究每个生命早期暴露于不同成年物种的鱼中表达的每个气味受体基因的副本。通过比较三个实验组的表达模式，我们将尝试查明专门用于检测物种特异性信息素提示的候选受体。更广泛的影响：这项研究可以帮助我们了解学习和大脑发展如何在分子水平上起作用。在此项目中，一到两名本科生将接受生物计算和编程的培训。流行文章将继续为Fishchum（http://fishchum.okstate.edu/）提供贡献，这是一个连接鱼类生物学家和水族馆的网络平台。这些研究的发现将吸引多种语言受众，因为文章将以英语，中文和西班牙语撰写，并且一些发现将通过流行的业余爱好者网站和/或杂志使用。