The Evolution of Trade-offs: Experimental Evaluation of Novel Quantitative Genetic Predictions

进化的特征是有机体生物学的各个方面随着时间的推移而发生变化。有限的资源和共享的潜在遗传和发育途径产生了性状之间的权衡。这种权衡在多大程度上限制了进化的方向和速度，这是现代进化生物学的一个中心问题。研究人员使用数量遗传学的数学框架来解决这个问题。他们使用沙蟋蟀繁殖能力和飞行能力之间的良好特征权衡作为模型系统，并使用实验室中的人工选择来迫使成分特征的进化。该实验将首次对涉及关键生活史权衡的特征的联合进化进行量化和机械性评估，并将极大地促进我们在生物水平上对进化过程的理解。除了为许多研究生和本科生提供研究和技术培训外，该项目还将以一套新的重复选择的品系的形式创建重要的新生物基础设施。这些研究成果将通过新创建的“实验进化综合研究计划”(IRPEE)广泛提供，并将为行为生态学、生理学、形态计量学和进化遗传学等领域的新研究项目提供框架。这些进化谱系的可获得性也将支持国际合作，包括目前与芬兰、法国和智利研究人员的合作。

Evolution is characterized by changes over time in all aspects of the biology of organisms. Limited resources and shared underlying genetic and developmental pathways generate trade-offs among traits. The extent to which such trade-offs constrain the direction and rate of evolution is a central question in modern evolutionary biology. The investigators address this question using the mathematical framework of quantitative genetics. They use the well-characterized trade-off between reproduction and flight capability in the sand cricket as a model system, and use artificial selection in the laboratory to force evolution of the component traits. The experiment will provide the first quantitative and mechanistic evaluation of the joint evolution of traits involved in a key life history trade-off, and will significantly advance our understanding of the process of evolution at the organismal level. In addition to providing research and technical training for many graduate and undergraduate students, this project will create significant new biological infrastructure in the form of a new set of replicated selected lines. These will be made widely available through the newly created "Integrated Research Program in Experimental Evolution" (IRPEE) and will provide the framework for new research projects in fields as diverse as behavioral ecology, physiology, morphometrics, and evolutionary genetics. The availability of these evolved lineages will also support international collaborations, including current collaborations with researchers from Finland, France and Chile.