FIBR : The Evolution of Biological Social Systems

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Over the past 40 years, evolutionary theories of social conflict and cooperation have radically changed our view of life. It has become clear that social evolution lies at the heart of some of the most significant transitions in evolution: the emergence of chromosomes, cells, eukaryotes, and multicellular organisms. In each, formerly separate entities overcome conflicts and merge into a greater whole. Understanding social evolution is therefore central to understanding the very structure of life. Though theories of social evolution are inherently genetic, the field has been largely removed from the advances of modern molecular genetics and large-scale genomics. The problem is that there has been no model organism with the right combination of sociality, short lifespan, and well-developed genetic and genomic tools. This project will use the social amoeba, Dictyostelium discoideum, which possesses these three characteristics, to put a molecular and mechanistic face on the processes of social evolution. The project has four goals. First, it will uncover the genes and molecular pathways underlying sociality. Second, it will probe the evolutionary history of these genes. For example, the research will test whether social forces create significant evolutionary pressures, and it will demonstrate the social function of ancestral genes by recreating them and testing them in vivo. Third, the project will generate experimental evidence for how opportunistic, non-altruistic behavior is controlled, a process that was essential in the major evolutionary transitions noted above. Finally, the knowledge gained in the lab will be used to understand how social evolution works in the wild. This research will bring together expertise on genomics and on social evolution to provide the most thorough understanding yet of the genetic basis and evolutionary history of complex social behavior. The project will promote education in numerous ways. Undergraduates, graduate students, and post-docs will engage in active research, present at meetings, publish, and mentor. Underrepresented minorities will be recruited, including through a partnership with the high-minority University of Houston-Downtown. Other educational projects include a well-linked educational website, and the implementation of a hands-on social amoeba laboratory at local high-minority-enrollment school.