RPG: Social Behavior And Population Genetics of Subterranean Rodents

9704462 Lacey 拟议的研究将探索来自巴塔哥尼亚北部的两种 tuco-tucos（啮齿目：Ctenomyidae）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，这些类群在社会行为和人口统计学方面表现出显着差异，从而对当地人群内部和人群之间遗传变异分配的种间差异产生离散预测。 为了量化种群遗传结构，将通过阿根廷内乌肯省利迈谷的南北横断面采样，从每个物种的多个种群中获取组织样本。 PI 开发的 Ctenomyid 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群体遗传结构中产生观察到的差异的作用，将为线粒体基因组的两个部分生成序列数据。 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发育地理学分析。 为了将栉虾类的比较研究纳入进化框架，来自线粒体基因组细胞色素 b 基因座的序列数据将用于探索研究类群之间的系统发育关系。 尽管目前关于地下啮齿类动物社会性进化的假设表明，社会行为和种群遗传结构之间存在根本联系，但没有研究明确比较独居类群和社会类群的遗传变异模式。 当与正在进行的利迈谷 tuco-tucos 研究的行为和人口统计数据相结合时，所提出的分子分析将产生 ctnomyid 种群结构的独特详细图片。 这些类群的数据反过来将为南美洲其他地区的栉虾科动物的社会行为、人口统计学和种群结构的比较分析提供基础。 更一般地说，拟议的研究将在行为生态学、群体遗传学和进化生物学等学科之间建立急需的联系。

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.