Evolutionary Genetics of a Sea Urchin Skeletogenic Gene Network

一个海胆骨骼形成基因网络的进化遗传学。基因相互作用，并与环境相互作用，产生自然选择所依据的有机体表型。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。该提案概述了一个项目，以测量遗传和环境影响对表型变异的影响，在一个非常明确的相互作用基因网络中。这些分析的主题是形成骨骼的基因网络和由此产生的紫圆海胆的幼虫骨骼。遗传和环境变化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，有机体表型将通过解剖学的形态计量分析来测量。具体目标如下：1。测量网络表型的遗传基础。8 × 8杂交将用于估计遗传对表型变异的贡献，确定其表达对表型变异贡献最大的基因，并测量解剖变异从潜在基因表达变异中得到缓冲的程度。2. 测量基因网络与环境的相互作用。对食物水平的操纵将用于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。总之，这些分析的结果将提供有关复杂性状变异起源的详细信息，这些变异跨越一个定义良好的基因网络及其在野生种群中的解剖产物，并为发育过程中的变异如何影响生态相关的生物体表型提供见解。更广泛的影响。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。这个主题是理解进化过程的关键部分，但对医学和农业研究也具有广泛的意义。将对基因网络和基因表达的理解整合到这类研究中是一个挑战，但也是一个具有重大机遇的领域。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。培训将继续涉及不同教育层次的学者，从高中生到博士后研究人员，就像之前的资助一样。

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.