RPG: Social Behavior And Population Genetics of Subterranean Rodents

小行星9704462 这项研究将探讨来自北方巴塔哥尼亚的两种杜鹃属（啮齿目：栉鼠科）的社会行为、人口统计学和种群遗传结构之间的关系。 PI先前的研究表明，这些类群在社会行为和人口统计学上表现出显着的差异，这些差异产生了关于当地种群内和种群间遗传变异分配的种间差异的离散预测。 为了量化种群遗传结构，将通过沿阿根廷内乌肯省利迈山谷的沿着南北横断面取样，从每个物种的多个种群中获得组织样本。 由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产生观察到的群体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被用于在当前和历史基因流之间进行基因流地理分析。 为了将ctenomyids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位点的序列数据来探索研究分类群之间的系统发育关系。 虽然目前关于地下啮齿类动物社会性进化的假设认为社会行为和种群遗传结构是根本联系在一起的，但没有研究明确比较了独居和社会类群的遗传变异模式。 当结合行为和人口统计学数据正在进行的研究tuco-tucos从themay谷，拟议的分子分析将产生一个独特的详细图片ctnomyid人口结构。 从这些类群的数据，反过来，提供了比较分析的社会行为，人口统计学和人口结构之间的ctenomyids从南美洲的其他部分的基础。 更一般地说，拟议中的研究将建立行为生态学，种群遗传学和进化生物学学科之间急需的联系。

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.