CAREER: Functional genomic architecture and population differentiation of a polygenic and sexually dimorphic butterfly mimicry phenotype

职业：多基因和性二态性蝴蝶拟态表型的功能基因组结构和群体分化

• 批准号: 2340675
• 负责人: James Lewis
• 金额: $ 132.75万
• 依托单位: Clemson University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-08-01 至 2029-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2340675&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Functional; genomic; architecture; population

Polygenic adaptation occurs when populations adapt via the evolution of many loci spread throughout the genome. This type of adaptation is predicted to be the most common way that organisms respond to selective pressures. Despite the importance of this process, we still know relatively little about the mechanisms that underlie polygenic trait adaptation. In addition, researchers know little about the impact novel polygenic traits have on population divergence and speciation. To address these deficiencies, this work will focus on three aims. First, it will uncover the molecular mechanisms that underlie change of the genotype-to-phenotype map in a model butterfly species. Second, the research will connect the discovered mechanisms to the population-scale processes driving adaptation. Third, the work will investigate the impact of polygenic trait adaptation on population divergence and speciation. In addition to the research goals, the work will also provide immersive summer-long research experiences for undergraduates from EPSCoR states. Finally, the project will also support guided butterfly tours at the South Carolina Botanical Garden.More specifically, this research will use integrative functional and quantitative genomics approaches to explore butterfly wing color and patterning. This strategy will aid in identifying the genetic architecture of a polygenic and polymorphic phenotype found in male individuals. The work will then use population genomics to determine the evolutionary processes that underlie the adaptive gain of this polymorphism. Finally, the work will test hypotheses about the extent to which this phenotype is driving population differentiation.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.

当种群通过许多基因座的演化传播到整个基因组中时，就会发生多基因适应。预测这种适应性是生物对选择性压力做出反应的最常见方法。尽管这一过程很重要，但我们仍然对基于多基因性状适应的机制相对较少了解。此外，研究人员对新型多基因性状对种群差异和物种形成的影响一无所知。为了解决这些缺陷，这项工作将集中在三个目标上。首先，它将发现模型蝴蝶物种中基因型到表型图的改变的分子机制。其次，研究将把发现的机制与推动适应的人群规模的过程联系起来。第三，这项工作将研究多基因性状适应对种群差异和物种形成的影响。除研究目标外，这项工作还将为Epscor States的本科生提供身临其境的夏季研究经验。最后，该项目还将支持南卡罗来纳州植物园的指导性蝴蝶之旅。更具体地说，这项研究将采用综合功能和定量基因组学方法来探索蝴蝶翼的颜色和图案。该策略将有助于确定男性个体中多基因和多态性表型的遗传结构。然后，这项工作将使用种群基因组学来确定该多态性适应性增长的进化过程。最后，这项工作将对这种表型推动人口差异的程度进行测试假设。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准通过评估来支持的。