Allopolyploidization, Niche Evolution, and Systematics of Central African Night Frogs

中非夜蛙的异源多倍化、生态位进化和系统学

• 批准号: 2120123
• 负责人: David Blackburn
• 金额: $ 74.46万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-10-01 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2120123&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Allopolyploidization; Niche; Evolution; Systematics; Central

Most vertebrate species are diploid: they have two sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. In some species, there is a duplication of each set leading the species to become polyploid (i.e., it has more than two sets of chromosomes). This can happen when two species hybridize and thus create a new polyploid species that contains both sets of chromosomes from each “parent” species. The newly formed species may be in competition with its parental species and may therefore evolve to occupy new environments. Competition between polyploid species and their diploid parents has been studied in plants but not in animals. This project will focus on two closely related groups of frogs from forests in West and Central Africa that are known to exhibit polyploidy: Night Frogs (genus Astylosternus) and Hairy Frogs (genus Trichobatrachus). The project will collect new data for thousands of genes from all of the species in these two groups. The researchers will analyze these data to establish the relationships among these frogs and to test hypotheses about how polyploid species compete with parental species and are potentially driven to create new ecological niches, even in relatively inhospitable environments. The results will provide new understanding about how and why polyploid species come to inhabit extreme environments. Better documentation of distributional and environmental requirements will also inform conservation efforts for six of the targeted species that are considered threatened by habitat loss. This project will train undergraduate students and develop on-line learning modules to help undergraduates understand the science of polyploid species. The researchers will lead a training workshop for scientists in the U.S. and Cameroon that will provide hands-on training for use of new tools to analyze the distribution and evolution of polyploid species.This project will advance our understanding of the processes generating polyploid species and the associated evolution of ecological niches. It will also add to our understanding of how these processes impact the formation of new vertebrate species in tropical ecosystems. The project will develop new methods to construct ancestral state reconstructions of fundamental niches on time-calibrated polyploid phylogenetic networks. These methods will be broadly applicable across polyploid plants and animals. The focal genera Astylosternus and Trichobatrachus are distributed across forest types and elevational gradients in Central Africa. They thus represent a unique vertebrate system for studying the geographic, climatic, and temporal factors that influence the creation of polyploid species through hybridization and subsequent niche evolution. Synthesis of phylogenetic relationships, species distributions, available advertisement calls, and newly collected anatomical data from CT-scanning will also facilitate a thorough taxonomic revision of these poorly known frogs, including the discovery of undescribed species.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

大多数脊椎动物都是二倍体：它们有两组染色体，一个来自每个父母。在某些物种中，每组都有一个重复，导致该物种变成多倍体（即，它具有两组以上的染色体）。当两个物种杂交并创建一个新的多倍体物种时，这种情况可能会发生这种情况，该物种包含每个“父”物种的两组染色体。新形成的物种可能与其亲本物种竞争，因此可能发展为占据新环境。多倍体物种及其二倍体父母之间的竞争是在植物中研究的，但在动物中不研究。该项目将集中于西部和中非森林的两个紧密相关的青蛙群体，这些青蛙众所周知多倍体：夜蛙（Astylosternus属）和毛青蛙（Trichobatrachus属）。该项目将收集这两组中所有物种的数千个基因的新数据。研究人员将分析这些数据，以建立这些青蛙之间的关系，并测试有关多倍体物种如何与亲本物种竞争的假设，并有可能驱动创造新的生态壁ches，即使在相对荒凉的环境中也是如此。结果将提供有关多倍体物种如何以及为什么影响极端环境的新理解。更好地记录分配和环境要求的文献还将为六个被认为受栖息地丧失威胁的目标物种提供保护工作。该项目将培训本科生并开发在线学习模块，以帮助了解多倍体物种的科学。研究人员将主持美国和喀麦隆科学家的培训研讨会，该研讨会将提供动手培训，用于使用新工具来分析多倍体物种的分布和演变。该项目将促进我们对产生多倍体物种的过程以及生态壁ches的相关演变的理解。这也将增加我们对这些过程如何影响热带生态系统中新脊椎动物的形成的理解。该项目将开发新的方法，以在时间校准的多倍体系统发育网络上构建基本壁ni的祖先重建。这些方法将广泛适用于多倍体植物和动物。焦点属Asterlosternus和Trichobatrachus分布在中非的森林类型和海拔梯度之间。因此，它们代表了一个独特的脊椎动物系统，用于研究通过杂交和随后的利基进化来影响多倍体物种创造的地理，气候和临时因素。 Synthesis of phylogenetic relationships, species distributions, available advertising calls, and newly collected anatomical data from CT-scanning will also facilitate a thorough taxonomic revision of these poorly known frogs, including the discovery of undescribed species.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed precious of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.