RPG: Social Behavior And Population Genetics of Subterranean Rodents

9704462莱西拟议的研究将探索来自巴塔哥尼亚北部的两种杜鹃(啮齿目：绦虫科)的社会行为、人口统计学和种群遗传结构之间的关系。PI之前的研究表明，这些分类群在社会行为和人口学上表现出显著的差异，这就产生了关于种间差异在当地种群内部和之间的遗传变异分配方面的离散预测。为了量化种群遗传结构，将从每个物种的多个种群中获取组织样本，方法是沿阿根廷内乌肯省利迈山谷南北横断面进行采样。由PI开发的Ctenmyid特异性微卫星引物将用于表征每个物种的遗传多样性水平和模式。为了评估历史因素在造成观察到的种群遗传结构差异中的作用，将生成线粒体基因组的两个部分的序列数据。来自线粒体控制区的序列数据将用于区分当前和历史基因流的系统地理分析。为了将线虫类的比较研究纳入进化框架，将使用线粒体基因组细胞色素b基因座的序列数据来探索研究类群之间的系统发育关系。虽然目前关于地下啮齿动物社会性进化的假说表明，社会行为和种群遗传结构从根本上是联系在一起的，但还没有研究明确地比较独居和社会分类群中的遗传变异模式。当结合利马河谷正在进行的tuco-tucos研究的行为和人口统计学数据时，拟议的分子分析将产生ctonomyid种群结构的独特详细图景。来自这些分类群的数据将反过来为比较分析南美洲其他地区的线虫的社会行为、人口统计学和种群结构提供基础。更广泛地说，拟议中的研究将在行为生态学、种群遗传学和进化生物学之间建立亟需的联系。

9704462 Lacey The proposed research will explore relationships between social behavior, demography, and population genetic structure in two species of tuco-tucos (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae) from northern Patagonia. Previous studies by the PI have revealed that these taxa exhibit marked differences in social behavior and demography that generate discrete predictions regarding interspecific differences in the apportionment of genetic variation within and among local populations. To quantify population genetic structure, tissue samples will be obtained from multiple populations of each species by sampling along north-south transects through the Limay Valley, Neuquen Province, Argentina. Ctenomyid-specific microsatellite primeers developed by the PI will be used to characterize levels and patterns of genetic diversity in each species. To assess the role of historical factors in creating observed differences in population genetic structure, sequence data will be generated for two portions of the mitochondrial genome. Sequence data from the mitochondrial control region will be used in phylogeographic analyses that distinguis between current and historical gene flow. To place comparative studies of ctenomyids into an evolutionary framework, sequence data from the cytochrome b locus of the mitochondrial genome will be used to explore the phylogenetic relationship between the study taxa. Although current hypotheses regarding the evolution of sociality among subterranean rodents suggestthat social behavior and population genetic structure are fundamentally linked, no studies have explicitly compared patterns of genetic variation in solitary and social taxa. When combined with behavioral and demographic data from ongoing studies of tuco-tucos from theLimay Valley, the proposed molecular analyses will yield a uniquely detailed picture of ctnomyid population structure. Data form these taxa will, in turn, provide the basis for comparative analyses of social behavior, demography, and population str ucture among ctenomyids from other portions of South America. More generally, the proposed research will establish much needed links between the disciplines of behavioral ecology, population genetics and evolutionary biology.