The molecular basis of phenotypic transitions in eusocial evolution

社会进化中表型转变的分子基础

基本信息

批准号：
NE/M012913/1
负责人：
Seirian Sumner
金额：
$ 86.05万
依托单位：
University of Bristol
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2015
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2015 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FM012913%2F1
关键词：
molecular basis phenotypic transitions eusocial

项目摘要

Major evolutionary transitions are key sources of diversity in the natural world. Yet we understand little about the mechanisms by which they arise, and specifically their molecular basis. An outstanding question is to what extent do these transitions arise via decoupling of ancestral genes and traits, or the evolution of new genomic material for new traits. This is important as it tells us whether molecular mechanisms constrain major evolutionary change. This project aims to explore the molecular basis a major evolutionary transition. The evolution of sociality is one of eight major evolutionary transitions and examples can be found across levels of biological organisation: genes aggregate into genomes, cells into multicellular organisms, and insects into societies. In each case, smaller entities unite to form larger higher-level entities, with division of labour, cooperation and specialized roles. In the transition to sociality the ancestral traits of reproduction and non-reproductive tasks, are thought to be decoupled to form a division of labour among group members. For example, in the transition from single- to multi-cellularity, cells become specialised as reproductive (gametes) or non-reproductive (somatic) units; in the transition from solitary living to sociality in insects, individuals become specialised as egg-layers (queens) or provisioners (workers). The decoupling of ancestral traits to form social traits is the main hypothesis to explain the mechanism by which sociality evolves. However, the decoupling hypothesis fails to consider the evolution of new behaviours or traits that arise during major transitions. These include: (1) the evolution of group living from a solitary, ancestral state; (2) the evolution of altruistic behaviour from an ancestral, selfish behaviour; (3) the evolution of inflexible (committed) phenotypes, from flexible (uncommitted) phenotypes. Therefore, defining the transition to sociality simply as a re-organisation of ancestral reproductive and provisioning traits maybe too simplistic, as it does not account for the emergence of essential novel traits. This Project will identify the genes and proteins underlying the decoupling of ancestral traits (reproduction and provisioning) and novel social traits (group living, altruism and committed castes) in the eusocial wasps. Eusocial insects are powerful models for studying the mechanisms and evolution of sociality. The eusocial wasps include species representatives across the spectrum of social complexity from species that can choose whether to be social or not, to highly complex, committed societies with extreme task specialists and complex societies. We will generate genome sequences and interrogate phenotype-specific transcriptomes and proteomes for 5 species of eusocial wasps. This work will be the first systematic interrogation of the molecular basis of insect behaviours across the spectrum of social diversity. We combine field manipulation experiments with state-of-the art genomic and bioinformatic approaches to dissect social behavior in an ecologically relevant context. The Work Programme consists of 3 stand-alone species-level studies on wasps representing different stages in social evolution. We use field manipulation experiments as a 'top-down' way of identifying genes associated with each behavioural innovation. Then, we exploit the datasets generated by these studies to address comparative questions on the molecular basis of social evolution. The combination of transcriptomics and proteomics is a powerful yet little exploited approach that is likely to lead to significant scientific breakthroughs. Our approach, therefore, seeks to uncover proximate mechanisms underlying key innovations in social behaviour in order to address ultimate questions on the nature of this major transition in evolution.

主要的进化转变是自然界多样性的关键来源。然而我们对它们产生的机制，特别是它们的分子基础知之甚少。一个突出的问题是，这些转变在多大程度上是通过祖先基因和性状的解耦或新基因组材料的新性状的进化而产生的。这很重要，因为它告诉我们分子机制是否限制了重大的进化变化。该项目旨在探索重大进化转变的分子基础。社会性的进化是八个主要进化转变之一，在生物组织的各个层面都可以找到这样的例子：基因聚合成基因组，细胞聚合成多细胞生物，昆虫聚合成社会。在每种情况下，较小的实体联合起来形成较大的较高级别的实体，并进行分工、合作和专门的角色。在向社会性的转变中，生殖和非生殖任务的祖先特征被认为是分离的，从而在群体成员之间形成了劳动分工。例如，在从单细胞到多细胞的转变中，细胞变得特化为生殖（配子）或非生殖（体细胞）单位；在昆虫从独居生活向群居生活转变的过程中，个体变得专门化为产卵者（蚁后）或供给者（工蚁）。祖先特征解耦形成社会特征是解释社会性演化机制的主要假设。然而，脱钩假说未能考虑重大转变期间出现的新行为或特征的演变。其中包括：（1）从孤独的祖先状态演变为群体生活； (2) 从祖先的自私行为演变为利他行为； (3)从灵活(非承诺)表型进化为不灵活(承诺)表型。因此，将向社会性的转变简单地定义为祖先的繁殖和供给特征的重组可能过于简单化，因为它没有考虑到基本的新特征的出现。该项目将鉴定真社会黄蜂祖先特征（繁殖和供给）和新社会特征（群体生活、利他主义和忠诚种姓）脱钩的基因和蛋白质。真社会性昆虫是研究社会性机制和进化的有力模型。真社会性黄蜂包括各种社会复杂性的物种代表，从可以选择是否社会化的物种，到具有极端任务专家和复杂社会的高度复杂、忠诚的社会。我们将生成基因组序列并研究 5 种真社会黄蜂的表型特异性转录组和蛋白质组。这项工作将是对跨社会多样性的昆虫行为的分子基础的首次系统探究。我们将现场操作实验与最先进的基因组和生物信息学方法相结合，在生态相关的背景下剖析社会行为。该工作计划包括 3 项独立的物种层面研究，涉及代表社会进化不同阶段的黄蜂。我们使用现场操作实验作为识别与每个行为创新相关的基因的“自上而下”方式。然后，我们利用这些研究生成的数据集来解决社会进化分子基础上的比较问题。转录组学和蛋白质组学的结合是一种强大但很少被利用的方法，可能会带来重大的科学突破。因此，我们的方法旨在揭示社会行为关键创新背后的直接机制，以解决有关进化中这一重大转变本质的最终问题。