The role of hybridization in generating biodiversity: insights from genomics of Madagascars true lemurs (Eulemur)

杂交在产生生物多样性中的作用：来自马达加斯加真狐猴（Eulemur）基因组学的见解

• 批准号: 2207198
• 负责人: David Weisrock
• 金额: $ 67.78万
• 依托单位: University of Kentucky Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-01 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2207198&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: role; hybridization; generating; biodiversity; insights

A fundamental goal in biological research is to understand how new species form, as this process has ultimately given rise to the incredible diversity of life on earth. Studies of species formation often focus on understanding how differences accumulate and interbreeding ceases. However, recent research has shown that hybridization – the sharing of genes and traits between different species – is common across the Tree of Life. Could hybridization play an important and overlooked role in the process of species formation? To help answer this question, this project will focus on a group of primates from Madagascar called the true lemurs, which have a high level of species diversity and a documented history of hybridization. The researchers will use genetic information from these lemurs to investigate the role of hybridization at multiple levels: how it shapes the genome, how it shapes the formation of new species, and how it shapes evolutionary history over longer timescales. This project will afford opportunities to integrate Malagasy students, U.S. students from underrepresented groups, and conservation practitioners, leading to synergistic relationships and helping to conserve Madagascar’s unique and threatened biodiversity.The overarching goals of this project are to understand how new species form in the face of hybridization and gene flow, and to expose the genomic signatures of these processes across a diversifying radiation. First, patterns of gene flow, selection, and genome architecture will be examined across a hybrid zone within the true lemurs (Eulemur) where the speciation process can be observed in action. Second, the researchers will explore how hybridization and introgression have shaped the deeper evolutionary history of all Eulemur and will ask whether the observed patterns are repeated and predictable across the clade. Finally, they will bring together data on geographic range, diet, and social behavior to construct a model aimed at understanding the extrinsic factors that facilitate hybridization. This project will yield insights into the origins of species in a hyperdiverse region of the world and will provide useful information to systematists contending with signatures of gene flow in their analyses.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.

生物学研究中的一个基本目标是了解新物种如何形成，因为这个过程最终赋予了地球上令人难以置信的生命多样性。物种形成的研究通常集中于了解差异如何积累和杂交停止。但是，最近的研究表明，杂交 - 不同物种之间的基因和特征的共享 - 在整个生命之树中很常见。杂交在物种形成过程中是否起着重要而被忽视的作用？为了帮助回答这个问题，该项目将集中在马达加斯加的一组名为True Lemurs的素数上，这些狐猴具有很高的物种多样性和杂交历史。研究人员将使用这些狐猴的遗传信息来研究杂交在多个层面上的作用：它如何塑造基因组，如何塑造新物种的形成以及它如何在更长的时间表上塑造进化史。该项目将有机会整合马达加斯加学生，来自代表性不足的团体的美国学生以及保护从业者，从而导致了协同的关系，并有助于保护马达加斯加独特而威胁性的生物多样性。该项目的总体目标是了解面对杂交和基因流的新物种如何形成，并在多元化的辐射中揭示这些过程的基因组特征。首先，将在真正的狐猴（Eulemur）内检查基因流，选择和基因组结构的模式，在这些杂种区域中可以观察到规格过程。其次，研究人员将探讨杂交和渗入如何塑造所有Eulemur的更深层进化史，并询问在整个进化枝中是否重复和可预测观察到的模式。最后，他们将汇总有关地理范围，饮食和社会行为的数据，以构建旨在了解促进杂交的外部因素的模型。该项目将洞悉世界上超多样地区的物种的起源，并将为与基因流的签名在其分析中竞争的系统主义者提供有用的信息。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子和更广泛影响的审查标准来通过评估来通过评估来支持的。