Evolution and Genetics of Behavior

行为的进化和遗传学

• 批准号: 9724037
• 负责人: Lori Stevens
• 金额: $ 25.85万
• 依托单位: University of Vermont & State Agricultural College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1997
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1997-09-15 至 2001-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9724037&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Evolution; Genetics; Behavior

9724037 Stevens Behaviors affect life, death and reproductive characters of individuals and populations and it is important to understand their expression and evolution. Understanding the expression of a behavior requires understanding the genetic basis of the behavior, the physiological basis of the behavior, the relationship between the behavior and fitness as well as effect of natural selection on the behavior. This research will use an insect model system to understand the role of genetics, physiology and selection in the expression of a behavior - cannibalism behavior in the confused flour beetle Tribolium confusum. Because behaviors are likely to be determined by or highly correlated with other traits - including basic physiological processes such as metabolic rate or respiration rate - the genetic basis of and selection on respiration rate and surface behavior (i.e., the tendency of beetles to be on the flour surface rather than tunneling in the flour media) will also be examined. Using high and low cannibalism strains, experiments will determine if there is single optimum expression of a behavior in a given environment, by creating populations with differing allele frequencies of cannibalism genes and tracking the change in allele frequencies over time. Statistical analysis will be used to determine the relative importance of selection vs random processes in behavior evolution. The proposed research will also examine the controversial, virtually untested portion of Wright's shifting balance theory, namely the plausibility of a population moving from one adaptive behavior stratagy to another by migration among populations. The genetic analysis will be done using recent developments in molecular genetics including quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis. A molecular genetic map of the genome of T. confusum will be constructed and used to identify regions of the genome associated with the behavioral and physiological traits. This rese arch is an important contribution to both behavior genetics and evolutionary biology because it tests common assumptions made about the adaptive significance of behaviors, as well as their genetic basis and evolution.

9724037 Stevens行为影响个体和种群的生命、死亡和生殖特征，了解它们的表达和演变是很重要的。理解行为的表现需要理解行为的遗传基础、行为的生理基础、行为与适应度的关系以及自然选择对行为的影响。本研究将利用昆虫模式系统来了解遗传、生理和选择在混淆粉甲虫Tribolium confusum的一种行为--同类相食行为的表达中所起的作用。由于行为可能由其他性状决定或与其他性状高度相关-包括基本生理过程，如代谢率或呼吸率-呼吸率和表面行为的遗传基础和选择（即，甲虫在面粉表面上而不是在面粉介质中隧穿的倾向）也将被检查。 使用高和低同类相食的菌株，实验将通过创建具有不同同类相食基因等位基因频率的种群并跟踪等位基因频率随时间的变化来确定在给定环境中是否存在单一的行为最佳表达。 统计分析将用于确定选择与随机过程在行为进化中的相对重要性。拟议中的研究还将研究赖特的平衡转移理论中有争议的、几乎未经检验的部分，即人口通过人口迁移从一种适应性行为策略转移到另一种适应性行为策略的可行性。 遗传分析将使用分子遗传学的最新发展，包括数量性状基因座（QTL）分析。 构建了T.将构建confusum并用于鉴定与行为和生理性状相关的基因组区域。这项研究是对行为遗传学和进化生物学的重要贡献，因为它测试了关于行为适应意义的常见假设，以及它们的遗传基础和进化。