Molecular Phylogeny of Flightin and the Evolution of Insect Flight Muscle

昆虫飞行的起源和进化是进化生物学的重要内容。迄今为止，在所有已确认的物种中，有一半以上是昆虫，使昆虫纲成为地球上最多样化的物种，也可以说是自然史上最成功的动物之一。Flightin是一种肌肉蛋白，已知对果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）的飞行至关重要。这些研究将联合收割机系统发育分析与生物化学技术相结合，以检查果蝇谱系中flightin的进化速率（目的1），并检查昆虫和甲壳类动物中flightin的系统发育分布和组织表达（目的2）。第一个目标的目标是测试的假设，flightin是在双重进化约束（纯化和积极的选择），以满足保守的肌肉生理功能和快速发展的行为相关的功能。这一假设将通过使用果蝇基因组学来分析flightin的进化、其多次磷酸化的倾向和飞行肌肉的生物力学特性来进行检验。第二个目标的目标是测试一个关键的假设，即flightin的飞行肌肉的分配与广泛的昆虫辐射在石炭纪晚期（~290 Mya）。这一假设将通过调查越来越深的节点在Pancrustacea的进化，从Holometabola甲壳纲，表达flightin的RNA，蛋白质和免疫细胞学分析。所述目标的实现将有助于阐明肌肉的分子生理学和细胞力学与昆虫的生态行为空气动力学和进化之间的机械联系，并将为最多产的陆生后生动物的宏观和微观进化趋势的合成铺平道路。这项研究的其他更广泛的影响主要是在教育领域和为研究界生产生物试剂。这项研究将为本科生和研究生以及偶尔的高中生提供培训机会，并包容来自代表性不足的社区和弱势背景的学生和研究人员。从这项研究中产生的知识将找到它的方式，以先进的本科生和研究生专题课程，并审查文章和书籍章节旨在为更广泛的科学界。研究结果将由本科生和研究生广泛传播，他们将在科学会议上介绍他们的工作，并将在同行评审的期刊上发表他们的研究。

The origin and evolution of insect flight is of major interest in evolutionary biology. More than half of all living species identified to date are insects making Insecta the most diverse class on Earth and arguably among the most successful animals in natural history. Flightin is a muscle protein known to be essential for flight in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. These studies will combine phylogenetic analyses with biochemical techniques to examine the rate of evolution of flightin among Drosophila lineages (aim 1) and to examine the phylogenetic distribution and tissue expression of flightin across insects and crustaceans (aim 2). The goal of the first aim is to test the hypothesis that flightin is under dual evolutionary constraints (purifying and positive selection) to fulfill a conserved muscle physiological function and a rapidly evolving behavior-associated function. This hypothesis will be tested by using Drosophila phylogeny to analyze the evolution of flightin, its propensity for multiple phosphorylations, and flight muscle biomechanical properties. The goal of the second aim is to test a key hypothesis that the assignation of flightin to the flight muscles correlates with the extensive insect radiation during the late Carboniferous (~290 Mya). This hypothesis will be examined by surveying increasingly deeper nodes in Pancrustacea phylogeny, from Holometabola to Crustacea, for expression of flightin by RNA, protein, and immunocytological analyses. The achievement of the stated goals will help to elucidate the mechanistic links between molecular physiology and cellular mechanics of muscle and the ecobehavioral aerodynamics and evolution of insects, and will pave the way towards a synthesis of the macro-and microevolutionary trends in the most prolific terrestrial metazoan. Additional broader impacts of this research are primarily in the areas of education and the generation of biological reagents for the research communities. This research will provide training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, and occasional high school students, and inclusiveness of students and research personnel from underrepresented communities and disadvantaged backgrounds. Knowledge generated from this research will find its way to advanced undergraduate and graduate special topic courses and to review articles and book chapters intended for the broader scientific community. Results will be broadly disseminated by undergraduate and graduate students who will present their work at scientific meetings and will publish their studies in peer-reviewed journals.