Dissertation Research: Genetic Determination of Parentage in Cooperative Groups

论文研究：合作群体中亲子关系的遗传决定

• 批准号: 8901042
• 负责人: Kerry Rabenold
• 金额: $ 1.05万
• 依托单位: Purdue Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1989
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1989-07-01 至 1991-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8901042&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Genetic; Determination; Parentage

For twelve years the PIs have studied several populations of wrens (Campylorhynchus griseus) that practice cooperative breeding in Venezuela. These birds live in extended family groups on permanent communal territories, a habit that is widespread among tropical birds. These populations are an especially revealing test case of the above evolutionary ideas about cooperation because it so effectively increases the number of young that can be produced. Genealogies are available for 85 groups (more than 700 marked individuals) of this species in two distinct habitat types. Using newly-developed DNA fingerprinting techniques, the PIs will establish whether the presumed breeders are the only birds reproducing in these family groups, and whether putative nonbreeding helpers are aiding in rearing siblings. This test will now be based on conclusive evidence from the genetic material itself rather than on fallible inferences based on behavioral observation. They will document the extent to which parentage is shared within and between groups, and analytical models and computer simulations will quantify the potential importance of parentage shared beyond a principal pair in social groups. They will continue field experiments examining the processes of competition for productive breeding positions and group defense against predators, the suspected mechanism of the advantage of breeding in a group. They will also explore the implications of short-distance dispersal for the genetic structure and distinctness of populations, using restriction- fragment-length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses and our long-term data on differences in dispersal tendencies between populations.

12年来，pi研究了委内瑞拉几个实行合作繁殖的鹪鹩（Campylorhynchus griseus）种群。这些鸟以大家庭的形式生活在永久的公共领土上，这种习惯在热带鸟类中很普遍。这些种群是上述关于合作的进化思想的一个特别具有启发性的测试案例，因为它如此有效地增加了可以产生的后代的数量。该物种在两种不同的生境类型中有85个类群（超过700个有标记的个体）的家谱。利用新开发的DNA指纹技术，pi将确定假定的繁殖者是否是这些家庭群体中唯一繁殖的鸟类，以及假定的非繁殖帮助者是否在帮助抚养兄弟姐妹。这种测试现在将基于遗传物质本身的确凿证据，而不是基于行为观察的错误推断。他们将记录下在群体内部和群体之间亲子关系共享的程度，分析模型和计算机模拟将量化在社会群体中主要夫妻之外的亲子关系共享的潜在重要性。他们将继续进行实地实验，研究竞争繁殖位置和群体防御捕食者的过程，这是群体繁殖优势的可疑机制。他们还将利用限制性片段长度多态性（RFLP）分析和我们关于种群间分散趋势差异的长期数据，探讨短距离分散对种群遗传结构和独特性的影响。