BRC-BIO: Investigating Color and Pattern Diversity in Painted Turtles

BRC-BIO：研究锦龟的颜色和图案多样性

• 批准号: 2233233
• 负责人: Elizabeth Reinke
• 金额: $ 47.25万
• 依托单位: Northeastern Illinois University
• 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: 2023-09-01 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2233233&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: BRC; BIO; Investigating; Color; Pattern

This research explores the function of variation in shell color and pattern in painted turtles. The work involves experiments and field work focused on understanding the antioxidant function of pigments in turtle tissues. In doing so, the work will explore how antioxidants impact survival, and the natural variation in shell colors and patterns. Understanding the antioxidant function and survival impacts of pigments is essential for making predictions about how turtles may respond to environmental change. This research will also provide students at a Hispanic-serving institution in Chicago the opportunity to conduct field work and research. Students will be trained in science communication and will co-author research papers. Students will also be able to participate in a paid internship with a software company who will develop an open-source platform for extracting color and pattern data from images. Understanding biological diversity requires both identifying the mechanisms and functions that underlie it, and understanding the fitness consequences of variation. Animal coloration and patterning are great traits with which to study functions and consequences of variation because these highly visible phenotypes can impact every aspect of an individual’s life. Painted turtles are so named because of their yellow skin stripes and their bright orange ventral shells. Despite their name and widespread range, little is known about their color or patterns. This research addresses these gaps in knowledge in three ways. First, by identifying the function of shell coloration (Objective 1). Second, by assessing how shell coloration impacts fitness (Objective 2). Third, by characterizing the variation in the shell patterns (Objective 3). Objective 1 will be investigated by manipulating the pigment content of turtle eggs in the nest and assessing the impact on antioxidant capacity. The researchers hypothesize that the carotenoids that are responsible for the bright orange shell color have a role in mitigating oxidative stress during recovery from overwintering. This hypothesis and the associated methods are built on previous work and pilot data. Objective 2 will be investigated by taking advantage of a natural experiment, by comparing both the population-level survival trajectories and the individual-level survival of two populations of painted turtles with similar pigment concentrations but different colorations. Lastly, Objective 3 will be studied by assessing intra-clutch, intrapopulation, and interpopulation variance in shell pattern using geometric morphometrics and neural networks. This latter objective will be done in collaboration with a software firm that can provide training and internships to students.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.

这项研究探讨了锦龟壳颜色和图案变化的功能，涉及实验和现场工作，重点是了解龟组织中色素的抗氧化功能。贝壳颜色和图案的自然变化。了解色素的抗氧化功能和生存影响对于预测海龟如何应对环境变化至关重要。这项研究还将为芝加哥西班牙裔服务机构的学生提供进行实地考察的机会。学生将接受科学培训。学生还将能够参加一家软件公司的带薪实习，该公司将开发一个开源平台，用于从图像中提取颜色和图案数据。其背后的功能，以及了解变异的适应性后果是研究变异的功能和后果的重要特征，因为这些高度可见的表型可以影响个体生活的各个方面。他们的黄色皮肤条纹和亮橙色尽管它们的名称和分布范围很广，但我们对它们的颜色或图案知之甚少，这项研究通过三种方式解决了这些知识空白：首先，通过确定贝壳的颜色功能（目标 1）。颜色对健康的影响（目标 2）。第三，通过控制海龟蛋中的色素含量并评估其对抗氧化能力的影响来研究贝壳图案的变化（目标 3）。导致亮橙色外壳颜色的类胡萝卜素在减轻越冬恢复过程中的氧化应激方面发挥着作用。这一假设和相关方法是建立在之前的工作和试点数据的基础上的，将利用自然实验进行研究。通过比较具有相似色素浓度但不同颜色的两个锦龟种群的种群水平生存轨迹和个体水平生存最后，将通过评估窝内、种群内和个体水平来研究目标 3。该目标将与一家软件公司合作完成，该公司可以为学生提供培训和实习。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的评估被认为值得支持。智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。