The role of plasticity in the evolution of novelty in animal communication

可塑性在动物交流新颖性进化中的作用

• 批准号: 2240950
• 负责人: E Dale Broder
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: University of Denver
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-02-01 至 2025-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2240950&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: role; plasticity; evolution; novelty; animal

Understanding how new traits arise is fundamental to explaining the diversity of life on Earth, but it is challenging to imagine how novel traits could arise in animal communication because communication requires coordination between a sender and a receiver. For example, if a sender evolves a novel signal, it may not be perceived or recognized by the intended receiver as a signal. Yet we know that novel signals do evolve. Plasticity has been suggested as a possible explanation. Plasticity refers to changes in an organism in response to the environment. For example, perhaps exposure to a novel signal plastically changes the preferences of the receiver so that they are willing to accept senders with this signal. In this proposal, the researchers capitalize on the recent discovery of two novel signals (songs) that Pacific field crickets use to attract mates. The researchers propose a large breeding experiment where male and female crickets are exposed to different songs, including the two novel songs, beginning at a young age. Researchers will then measure plasticity in adult crickets for a suite of reproductive traits to uncover the role of plasticity in the origins of novelty. This project also integrates education aims to support young scientists in the LGBTQ+ community, mentoring diverse undergraduate students in independent research, creating teaching resources that use data from this research to teach about plasticity and novelty, and using a web-based citizen science platform to allow the public to participate directly in the research. Novelty is readily detectable on a macroevolutionary scale, and novel traits can drive diversification, but opportunities to observe novelty in real time are rare, so empirical examples and opportunities to ask how novel traits arise are lacking. It is particularly challenging to imagine how novelty could evolve in animal communication because communication requires coordination between a sender and a receiver. It has been suggested that phenotypic plasticity may facilitate the establishment of novel traits, and developmental plasticity has been specifically linked to innovation. Two novel signals (songs) recently evolved in Hawaiian populations of Teleogryllus oceanicus, providing an unprecedented opportunity to test the central hypothesis that plasticity facilitates the establishment of novelty. The researchers propose a large breeding experiment with acoustic rearing treatments to measure plasticity in receivers and senders for suites of reproductive traits in ancestral and derived morphs. The work will reveal whether novelty can evolve in the absence of plasticity or instead if novel communication signals are facilitated by plasticity in receivers, senders, or both. The use of a genotype-by-environment breeding design will also establish whether plasticity pre-dates the origin of novel signal features and at what stages of the reproductive process plasticity overcomes reproductive barriers.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.

了解新特征是如何出现的，这是解释地球上生命多样性的基础，但是想象一下动物交流中新颖的特征如何出现，因为沟通需要发送者与接收者之间的协调。例如，如果发件人演变出新的信号，则可能不会被预期的接收器视为信号。但是我们知道新颖的信号确实在发展。已建议可塑性作为可能的解释。可塑性是指响应环境的生物体变化。例如，也许暴露于新型信号会塑料改变接收器的偏好，以便他们愿意接受带有此信号的发件人。在该提案中，研究人员利用了最近发现的两个新型信号（歌曲），太平洋野外板球吸引了伴侣。研究人员提出了一个大型繁殖实验，男性和女性板球接触到不同的歌曲，包括从小就开始的两首小说歌曲。然后，研究人员将测量成人板球中的可塑性，以了解一系列生殖特征，以发现可塑性在新颖性起源中的作用。该项目还整合了教育，旨在为LGBTQ+社区的年轻科学家提供支持，指导独立研究的多元化本科生，创建教学资源，使用该研究中的数据来教授有关可塑性和新颖性的教学，并使用基于网络的公民科学平台允许公众直接参与研究。新颖性很容易在宏观进化范围内检测到，而新颖的特征可以推动多样化，但是实时观察新颖性的机会很少，因此经验的例子和机会询问如何缺乏新颖的特征。想象一下动物交流中如何发展的新颖性，因为沟通需要发送者和接收者之间的协调，这一点尤其具有挑战性。有人提出，表型可塑性可能有助于建立新的特征，并且发展可塑性已与创新特别相关。最近在夏威夷Teleogryllus Oceanicus人群中演变的两个新颖信号（歌曲）提供了一个前所未有的机会，以测试可塑性有助于建立新颖性的中心假设。研究人员提出了一项大型育种实验，并进行了声学饲养处理，以测量接收器和发件人中的可塑性，以实现祖先和衍生的形态中生殖特征的套件。这项工作将揭示新颖性是否可以在没有可塑性的情况下发展，还是新颖的通信信号是通过接收器，发件人或两者的可塑性促进的。使用基因型的逐环境繁殖设计还将确定可塑性是否可以预先建立新的信号特征的起源，并且在生殖过程的哪些阶段，可塑性克服了生殖障碍。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优点和广泛影响的评估来评估，并被认为是值得的。

项目成果

STEM Summer Camp for Girls Positively Affects Self-Efficacy

女孩STEM夏令营积极影响自我效能

• DOI: 10.1525/abt.2023.85.8.432
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: The American Biology Teacher
• 作者: Broder, E. Dale;Fetrow, Kirsten J.;Murphy, Shannon M.;Hoffman, Jennifer L.;Tinghitella, Robin M.
• 通讯作者: Tinghitella, Robin M.