Dissertation Research: Evolutionary complexity and diversity of chemical defenses in diurnal and nocturnal fireflies

论文研究：昼夜萤火虫化学防御的进化复杂性和多样性

• 批准号: 1405887
• 负责人: Benjamin Fitzpatrick
• 金额: $ 1.94万
• 依托单位: University of Tennessee Knoxville
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-07-01 至 2017-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1405887&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Evolutionary; complexity; diversity

This research will provide insight into the origin and maintenance of complex chemical diversity associated with alternative ecological strategies. Antipredator defenses often consist of multiple parts functioning as a single unit. Two key questions are: (1) What factors favor particular defensive traits? (2) How are these strategies integrated into the phenotype? Chemical defenses in fireflies provide an excellent system for evaluating these questions. Fireflies are primarily known for bioluminescent flashing, but most also make diverse blends of toxins that vary in chemical structure and concentration. Yet, little is known about firefly chemical diversity, and how it-and complex traits in general-evolve. For example, are shifts between diurnal and nocturnal activity (and associated loss or gain of bioluminescence) accompanied by changes in chemical defense evolution? This research will quantify the diversity of chemical defenses across the firefly phylogeny and use comparative methods to estimate rates of change and patterns of convergence and divergence of chemical phenotypes.This project will create outlets to educate the public about the ecology and evolution of insects, nocturnal life, and bioluminescence via a favorite insect. Moreover, drug discovery is a billion dollar business, and pharmaceutical chemists have long recognized that evolution has produced some of the most effective and profitable drugs ever. However, scientists still do not understand the mechanisms behind the origin and maintenance of chemical diversity. Insight into this question will help guide the next generation of pharmaceutical chemistry.

这项研究将深入了解与替代生态策略相关的复杂化学多样性的起源和维持。反捕食者防御通常由多个部分组成，作为一个整体。两个关键问题是：（1）哪些因素有利于特定的防御特征？ （2）这些策略如何整合到表型中？萤火虫的化学防御为评估这些问题提供了一个极好的系统。萤火虫主要以生物发光而闻名，但大多数萤火虫也会产生化学结构和浓度各异的多种毒素混合物。然而，人们对萤火虫化学多样性以及它和一般复杂性状如何进化知之甚少。例如，昼间和夜间活动之间的变化（以及相关的生物发光的损失或增加）是否伴随着化学防御进化的变化？这项研究将量化整个萤火虫系统发育中化学防御的多样性，并使用比较方法来估计化学表型的变化率和趋同和发散模式。该项目将创建教育公众有关昆虫、夜行性昆虫的生态和进化的渠道。生命，以及通过最喜欢的昆虫发出的生物发光。此外，药物发现是一项价值十亿美元的业务，药物化学家很早就认识到，进化已经产生了一些有史以来最有效、最有利可图的药物。然而，科学家们仍然不了解化学多样性的起源和维持背后的机制。对这个问题的深入了解将有助于指导下一代药物化学。