Function-valued Traits in Natural Populations: Variation, Selection, and Evolution

在Richard Gomulkiewicz和Patrick Carter的指导下，华盛顿州立大学获得了一项奖项，以开发分析复杂特征的方法。参与该项目的其他人员有：Jay Beder（威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校）、George Gilchrist（威廉玛丽学院）、Nancy Heckman（不列颠哥伦比亚大学）、Joel Kingsolver和Steve Marron（北卡罗来纳大学）、Mark Kirkpatrick（德克萨斯大学）、Scott Pletcher（贝勒医学院）、Johanna Schmitt（布朗大学）。生物学家有丰富的定量工具来分析性状的遗传和进化，只要性状可以通过一个或几个测量来描述。然而，在基础生物学和应用生物学中，许多重要的复杂性状是用数学函数定量定义的，很少有方法对它们进行分析。这些功能价值特征包括基因表达谱、生活史模式、二维和三维形态以及对连续环境梯度的表型反应。经验主义者对功能价值特征越来越感兴趣，但他们的研究产生了越来越多的未解决的实践和理论问题。为了解决这些问题，该奖项将整合来自多个学科的方法，包括统计学、数学建模和生物学。具体来说，这项工作将导致一个全面的框架统计工具和数学模型分析函数值特征。该框架将用于解决七个模型经验系统中的主要问题，这些系统涵盖了广泛的自然、野外和实验室系统。这些调查将为新的和现有的数据、统计方法和数学理论产生广泛的实证结果。一个易于使用的软件包也将为生物学家开发，他们的研究涉及变异、选择和进化的功能价值特征的问题。预期更广泛的影响：本提案中开发的方法可以应用于与复杂性状变异有关的任何生物学领域。除了进化生物学，它还包括医学遗传学、农业、野生动物管理、全球变化和保护遗传学等应用领域。该项目的范围将包括动植物系统的分子、定量和生态遗传学、统计分析和数学建模。因此，提出的横切研究和培训战略将为培养本科生、研究生、博士后和成熟的研究人员提供一个绝佳的机会，这些研究人员跨越了广泛的科学领域和方法，几乎掌握了当代进化生物学的所有技能。

An award has been made to Washington State University under the direction of Richard Gomulkiewicz and Patrick Carter to develop ways to analyze complex traits. Other personnel involved in the project are: Jay Beder (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee), George Gilchrist (College of William and Mary),Nancy Heckman (University of British Columbia),Joel Kingsolver and Steve Marron(University of North Carolina),Mark Kirkpatrick (University of Texas), Scott Pletcher (Baylor College of Medicine),Johanna Schmitt (Brown University). Biologists have a rich array of quantitative tools for analyzing the genetics and evolution of traits, provided the traits can be described by one or a few measurements. However, many complex traits of central importance in basic and applied biology are defined quantitatively by mathematical functions, and few methods exist for their analysis. These function-valued traits include gene expression profiles, life history patterns, two- and three-dimensional morphological shapes, and phenotypic responses to continuous environmental gradients. Empiricists are becoming increasingly interested in function-valued traits, but their studies have generated an expanding range of unresolved practical and theoretical questions. To address these issues, this award will integrate approaches from several disciplines, including statistics, mathematical modeling, and biology. Specifically, the work will lead to a comprehensive framework of statistical tools and mathematical models for analyzing function-valued traits. The framework will be used to address major questions in seven model empirical systems that span a broad spectrum of natural, field, and laboratory systems. These investigations will produce an extensive set of empirical results for new and existing data, statistical methods, and mathematical theory. An easy to use software package will also be developed for biologists whose research involves questions about variation, selection, and evolution of function-valued traits.Expected broader impacts: Methodologies developed in this proposal can be applied to any area of biology concerned with variation of complex traits. Besides evolutionary biology, this includes applied fields such as medical genetics, agriculture, wildlife management, global change, and conservation genetics. The scope of this project would include molecular, quantitative, and ecological genetics in plant and animal systems, statistical analysis, and mathematical modeling. As such, the proposed crosscutting research and training strategy will provide an outstanding opportunity to train undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, and established researchers who span a wide range of scientific fields and approaches in virtually all the skills of contemporary evolutionary biology.