Collaborative Research: Investigating the factors shaping marine-derived freshwater fish radiations in tropical rivers of Australia and New Guinea

合作研究：调查澳大利亚和新几内亚热带河流中海洋淡水鱼辐射的影响因素

• 批准号: 2225130
• 负责人: Ricardo Betancur
• 金额: $ 69.56万
• 依托单位: University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-04-01 至 2027-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2225130&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Investigating; factors; shaping

The vast majority of the over 30,000 species of fishes in the world occur either in marine or freshwater ecosystems, not both. However, over the course of millions of years, select lineages of fishes have crossed the boundary between marine and freshwaters, established permanent residence, and diversified in the newly colonized environment. A subset of the fish groups then underwent remarkable evolutionary expansion upon colonizing freshwaters, diversifying into an array of different species that play different ecological roles. Australia and New Guinea are unique because their freshwater fish communities are primarily comprised of lineages derived from marine ancestors, and at least seven such lineages underwent spectacular diversification. This project will explore how varying rates of evolution, ages of different fish groups, and the interactions among fish communities have influenced the evolutionary outcomes of colonizing freshwaters in the Australia-New Guinea region. The study also aims to determine the genetic mechanisms underlying adaptation to freshwater environments, findings of particular relevance to a changing planet. The project will train undergraduate and graduate students in modern biodiversity science, and through student exchanges, provide benefits to US and New Guinean students. High school teachers will be trained to read, interpret, and teach the evolutionary Tree of Life, skills that can be incorporated into K-12 curriculum. Finally, an electronic guide the fishes of New Guinea will be developed and made freely available. While much progress has been achieved in identifying the drivers of adaptive radiation in relation to colonization of islands by terrestrial animals (e.g., finches, anoles) or lakes by fishes (e.g., cichlids, sticklebacks), transitions into rivers by marine groups have rarely been examined in this context. The proposed project will take advantage of a unique 'natural experiment'––the depauperate primary freshwater fish community in rivers of Australia and New Guinea––to examine the extent to which marine-to-freshwater transitions resulted in adaptive radiations. More specifically, it aims to identify the factors that promoted or constrained lineage, phenotypic, and genomic evolution of marine-derived freshwater groups in the region. The project will integrate genomic, morphological, paleontological, and ecological data from more than 400 fish species representing 16 families in the Australia and New Guinea region to study diversification patterns associated not only with transitions across the marine-freshwater boundary but also along the benthic-pelagic axis. Phylogenomic analyses in combination with phylogenetic comparative methods will be used to study how the chronological sequence of habitat transitions influenced the outcome of lineage diversification and morphological evolution of freshwater radiations. Comparative genomic approaches based on whole genomes will be used to identify loci related to functional adaptations, including signatures of molecular adaptation and convergence, as well as gene family expansions and contractions. Ultimately this project will provide an evolutionary framework to help understand the factors regulating adaptive radiations across environmental gradients. It will include student training in fish biodiversity at a variety of levels.This project is jointly funded by the Systematics and Biodiversity Science Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.

世界上 30,000 多种鱼类中的绝大多数出现在海洋或淡水生态系统中，而不是同时出现在两者中。然而，在数百万年的时间里，某些鱼类已经跨越了海洋和淡水之间的边界，建立了永久的栖息地。 ，并在新殖民的环境中多样化，然后在殖民淡水中经历了显着的进化扩张，多样化为一系列发挥不同生态作用的不同物种，因为澳大利亚和新几内亚是独一无二的。它们的淡水鱼类群落主要由来自海洋祖先的谱系组成，并且至少有七个这样的谱系经历了惊人的多样化，该项目将探讨不同的进化速度、不同鱼群的年龄以及鱼类群落之间的相互作用如何影响进化。该研究还旨在确定适应淡水环境的遗传机制、与不断变化的地球特别相关的发现，以及现代生物多样性科学方面的本科生和研究生。通过学生交流，提供高中教师将接受阅读、解释和教授生命进化树的培训，这些技能可以纳入 K-12 课程中。最后，将推出新几内亚鱼类电子指南。虽然在确定与陆地动物（例如雀类、变色龙）或湖泊（例如鱼类）殖民相关的适应性辐射的驱动因素方面已经取得了很大进展。丽鱼科鱼、棘鱼）的海洋种群向河流的转变很少在这方面进行研究。拟议的项目将利用一项独特的“自然实验”——澳大利亚和新几内亚河流中退化的初级淡水鱼群落。更具体地说，它的目的是确定促进或限制源自海洋的淡水群体的谱系、表型和基因组进化的因素。该项目将整合来自澳大利亚和新几内亚地区 16 个科的 400 多种鱼类的基因组、形态学、古生物学和生态数据，以研究不仅与海洋-淡水边界转变相关的多样化模式。沿着底栖-远洋轴。系统发育分析与系统发育比较方法相结合，将用于研究栖息地转变的时间顺序如何影响谱系多样化的结果。基于全基因组的比较基因组方法将用于识别与功能适应相关的基因座，包括分子适应和趋同的特征，以及基因家族的扩展和收缩，最终该项目将提供一个进化框架。帮助了解调节跨环境梯度的适应性辐射的因素。它将包括对不同层次的鱼类生物多样性的学生培训。该项目由系统学和生物多样性科学计划和既定计划共同资助。刺激竞争性研究 (EPSCoR)。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。