Molecular Phylogeny of Stingless Bees: A Framework For Historical Biogeography and Behavior

高度群居的蜜蜂代表了社会生活和复杂通讯系统进化的一个高峰。这类蜜蜂主要以蜜蜂（Apini）和无刺蜜蜂（Meliponini）为代表。该项目的主要目的是在世界范围内重建无刺蜜蜂系统发育关系的良好支持树，从而最终破译动物中最迷人的交流系统之一的起源和发展：蜜蜂的舞蹈语言。带着花蜜和花粉归来的觅食者的舞蹈向其他蚁群成员传达了巢外最有价值的花朵的位置。不幸的是，因为今天生活的所有种类的蜜蜂都拥有一种舞蹈语言，而且是唯一获得这种非凡的交流系统的群居昆虫，所以不能直接研究它们，以了解舞蹈语言是如何进化的。相反，人们必须求助于它们的近亲——无刺蜜蜂，以获得见解。事实上，无刺蜜蜂在群体配偶之间具有异常多样化的觅食交流机制，可以通过研究来阐明可能导致这种舞蹈的进化途径。解释这一途径需要了解组成无刺蜜蜂的各种属和亚属的进化史。在这个项目中，代表225个物种的大约50个亚属的系统发育将从5个基因片段的DNA序列中重建，这些基因片段已被初步研究证明是解决无刺蜜蜂关系的绝佳方法。这五个基因包括一个线粒体基因（16S rRNA）和四个核基因（ef -1 α、视蛋白、精氨酸激酶和无翼基因）。已经收集了大量物种进行测序，剩余的种群将在项目过程中收集，主要来自拉丁美洲和新几内亚。将使用标准的DNA测序程序，初步的计算机分析先导分子数据表明，这五个基因将产生一个很好的支持系统发育。为了理解蜜蜂惊人的交流系统，我们必须探究近亲无刺蜜蜂的工作原理和机制，以寻找进化的线索。这需要无刺蜜蜂的系统发育，这将在本研究项目的过程中发展。鉴于这一得到充分支持的系统发育，世界各地实验室正在进行的关于招聘通信系统的研究将得到推进。这一进化框架有望深入了解精确语言发展的趋同路径和历史限制，并为揭示此类语言进化中历史与适应之间的相互作用提供难得的机会。该项目的培训和教育部分将为博士生提供最先进的工具和经验，以便在系统学和热带昆虫生物多样性领域建立职业生涯。来自贫困背景的本科生将有机会进行独立研究，这有可能导致生物学领域令人兴奋的职业生涯。这项研究将有助于了解热带雨林中世界上最重要的传粉媒介之一的生物多样性。许多种类的无刺蜜蜂仍有待发现、命名和描述。在发展中国家，增加对无刺蜂多样性的了解有可能通过增加农村地区的无刺蜂蜂蜜生产来刺激新的经济发展。

The highly social bees represent a peak in the evolution of social living and sophisticated communication systems. Such bees are represented predominantly by the honey bees (Apini) and the stingless bees (Meliponini). The primary aim of this project is to reconstruct a well supported tree of phylogenetic relationships of the stingless bees on a world scale so as to ultimately decipher the origins and development of one of the most fascinating communication systems known among animals: the dance language of the honey bee. The dance of a returning forager laden with nectar and pollen encodes for other colony members the position of the most rewarding flowers outside the nest. Unfortunately, because all species of honey bees living today possess a dance language and are the only social insects to have acquired this extraordinary communication system, they cannot be studied directly for insights into how the dance language evolved. One must instead turn to their near relatives, the stingless bees, for insights. Indeed, stingless bees possess exceptionally diverse mechanisms of forager communication among colony mates, which can be studied to elucidate possible evolutionary pathways that may have led to the dance. Interpreting this pathway requires knowledge of the evolutionary history of the diverse genera and subgenera that make up the stingless bees. For this project, the phylogeny of approximately 50 subgenera representing 225 species will be reconstructed from DNA sequences of five gene fragments that have been shown by preliminary research to be excellent for resolving relationships of stingless bees. The five genes include a mitochondrial gene (16S rRNA) and four nuclear genes (EF-1alpha, opsin, arginine kinase and wingless). A large number of species have been collected for sequencing and remaining groups will be collected during the course of the project, primarily from Latin America and New Guinea. Standard procedures for DNA sequencing will be used and preliminary computer analyses of pilot molecular data indicate these five genes will yield a well supported phylogeny. To understand the stunning communication system of the honey bee, we must probe into the workings and mechanisms of close relatives, the stingless bees, for evolutionary clues. This requires a phylogeny of the stingless bees, which will be developed during the course of this research project. Ongoing research by laboratories around the world on recruitment communication systems will be advanced in light of this well supported phylogeny. This evolutionary framework promises insights into convergent pathways and historical constraints in the development of precise language, and a rare opportunity to reveal the interplay between history and adaptation in the evolution of such language. The training and educational components of the project will provide a PhD student with state-of-the-art tools and experience for establishing a career in the field of systematics and tropical insect biodiversity. An undergraduate from an underprivileged background will have the opportunity to undertake independent research that has the potential to lead to a stimulating career in biology. This research will contribute to an understanding of the biodiversity of one of the world's most important pollinators in tropical rain forests. Many species of stingless bees remain to be discovered, named and described. In developing countries, increased knowledge of stingless bee diversity has the potential to stimulate new economic development through growth of stingless bee honey production in rural areas.