Evolution of Inect Sexual Communication Systems

昆虫性通讯系统的进化

• 批准号: 0235400
• 负责人: Fred Gould
• 金额: $ 22.2万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-03-01 至 2006-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0235400&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Evolution; Inect; Sexual; Communication; Systems

Most night-flying moth locate mates through female production of, and male response to very precise blends of three or more species specific airborne chemicals. Within a species, females that produce atypical blends are not as attractive as other females. Similarly, rare males that have genes for response to an altered blend are expected to be less reproductively fit than normal males. Based on our current understanding of the genetics and mechanics of sexual communication in moths, evolution is expected to select against the proliferation of new sexual communication systems. However, there are currently thousands of moth species, each with a unique system of communication. Our goal is to hybridize two closely related moth species that differ in their pheromones and male responses. We will map sexual communication genes and develop strains with single genetic differences in pheromone production or response to determine if and to what extent their fitness is decreased in a number of environmental conditions.There are many complex traits for which diversification is expected to be hindered in early evolutionary stages. We expect the information from our work on moths to provide general insight into how traits that are expected to be conserved, can diversify.

大多数夜飞蛾通过雌性产生和雄性对三种或三种以上特定的空气中化学物质的精确混合物的反应来寻找配偶。在一个物种中，产生非典型混合物的雌性不像其他雌性那样有吸引力。同样，具有对改变的混合物做出反应的基因的罕见雄性动物预计比正常雄性动物的生殖健康程度低。根据我们目前对蛾类性交流的遗传学和机制的理解，进化预计会选择新的性交流系统的扩散。然而，目前有数千种蛾类，每种都有独特的通信系统。我们的目标是杂交两个密切相关的蛾物种，不同的信息素和男性的反应。我们将绘制性交流基因图，并开发在信息素产生或反应方面具有单一遗传差异的菌株，以确定它们的适应性是否以及在多大程度上在许多环境条件下下降。我们希望从我们对飞蛾的研究中获得的信息能为我们提供一个普遍的见解，即那些被认为是保守的特征是如何多样化的。