FIBR : The Evolution of Biological Social Systems

在过去的40年里，关于社会冲突和合作的进化论从根本上改变了我们的人生观。很明显，社会进化处于进化中一些最重要的转变的核心：染色体、细胞、真核生物和多细胞生物体的出现。在每一种情况下，以前独立的实体都克服了冲突，合并成一个更大的整体。因此，理解社会进化是理解生命结构的核心。尽管社会进化理论本身就是遗传的，但随着现代分子遗传学和大规模基因组学的发展，该领域已在很大程度上被排除在外。问题是，还没有一种模式生物具有适当的社会性、短暂的寿命以及发达的遗传和基因组工具。这个项目将利用具有这三个特征的社会阿米巴--盘基网毛虫，以分子和机制的面貌来研究社会进化过程。该项目有四个目标。首先，它将揭示社会性背后的基因和分子途径。其次，它将探索这些基因的进化史。例如，这项研究将测试社会力量是否会产生重大的进化压力，并将通过在体内重新创造并测试祖先基因来证明它们的社会功能。第三，该项目将产生如何控制机会主义、非利他行为的实验证据，这一过程在上面提到的主要进化转变中至关重要。最后，在实验室中获得的知识将被用来理解社会进化在野外是如何运作的。这项研究将汇集基因组学和社会进化方面的专业知识，以提供迄今为止对复杂社会行为的遗传基础和进化史的最彻底的理解。该项目将以多种方式促进教育。本科生、研究生和博士后将从事积极的研究、出席会议、出版和指导。少数族裔代表不足的学生将被招募，包括通过与少数族裔比例较高的休斯顿市中心大学合作。其他教育项目包括一个链接良好的教育网站，以及在当地少数民族入学率较高的学校实施亲身实践的社会阿米巴实验室。

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.