Evolutionary Genetics of a Sea Urchin Skeletogenic Gene Network

海胆骨骼基因网络的进化遗传学智力优势。基因相互作用，并与环境相互作用，产生自然选择所依据的生物表型。这些GxG和GxE的相互作用可以在很大程度上影响对自然选择的反应。这项建议概述了一个项目，以衡量遗传和环境影响对相互作用基因网络中异常明确的表型变异的影响。这些分析的主题是紫球海胆的骨骼基因网络和由此产生的幼虫骨架。遗传和环境变异的影响将在不同的生物组织水平上进行分析：分子表型将通过等位基因特异性转录来测量，组织表型将通过解剖学的形态计量学分析来测量。具体目标如下：1.测量网络表型的遗传基础。8×8杂交将被用来估计遗传对表型变异的贡献，鉴定其表达对表型变异贡献最大的基因，并测量解剖变异在多大程度上受到潜在基因表达变异的影响。2.测量基因网络与环境的相互作用。食物水平的操纵将被用来表征基因网络对关键环境变量变化的反应，测量遗传变异对这种反应的影响程度，并确定介导表型可塑性的特定基因。总而言之，这些分析的结果将提供关于野生种群中定义良好的基因网络及其解剖产品中复杂特征变异的起源的详细信息，并为了解发育过程中的变异如何影响生态相关的生物表型提供洞察力。遗传和环境因素对表型变异的影响具有相当普遍的重要性。这一主题是理解进化过程的关键部分，也对医学和农业研究具有广泛的意义。将对基因网络和基因表达的理解融入到这样的研究中是一个挑战，但也是一个重要的机遇领域。此外，拟议的研究将涉及对年轻科学家进行现代实验室方法和分析方法的培训。培训将继续有几个教育层次的学者参加，从高中生到博士后研究人员，就像在以前的资助期间一样。

Evolutionary genetics of a sea urchin skeletogenic gene networkIntellectual merit. Genes interact with each other and with the environment to produce the organismal phenotypes upon which natural selection operates. These GxG and GxE interactions can influence responses to natural selection to a significant degree. This proposal outlines a project to measure the impact of genetic and environmental influences on phenotypic variation within an exceptionally welldefined network of interacting genes. The subject of these analyses is the skeletogenic gene network and resulting larval skeleton of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. The impact of genetic and environmental variation will be assayed at different levels of biological organization: molecular phenotypes will be measured as allele-specific transcription and organismal phenotypes will measured through morphometric analyses of anatomy. The Specific Aims are as follows: 1. Measure the genetic basis for network phenotypes. An 8 x 8 cross will be used to estimate genetic contributions to phenotypic variation, to identify genes whose expression contributes the most to phenotypic variation, and to measure the degree to which anatomical variation is buffered from variation in underlying gene expression. 2. Measure gene network-by-environment interactions. Manipulation of food level will be used to characterize the response of the gene network to changes in a key environmental variable, to measure how much genetic variation influences this response, and to identify specific genes that mediate phenotypic plasticity. Together, the results of these analyses will provide detailed information about the origins of complex trait variation across a well defined gene network and its anatomical product in a wild population, and provide insights into how variation in developmental processes affects ecologically relevant organismal phenotypes.Broader impacts. The influence of genetic and environmental factors on phenotypic variation has considerable general importance. This topic is a critical part of understanding evolutionary processes, but also has broad significance for medical and agricultural studies. Integrating an understanding of gene networks and gene expression into such studies represents a challenge, but also an area of significant opportunity. In addition, the proposed research will involve training young scientists in modern laboratory methods and analytical approaches. Training will continue to involve scholars at several levels of education, from high school students to post-doctoral researchers, as during prior funding.