Development, Evolution, and Diversification of Beetle Horns

甲虫角的发育、进化和多样化

• 批准号: 0718522
• 负责人: Armin Moczek
• 金额: $ 53.81万
• 依托单位: Indiana University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-01-01 至 2012-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0718522&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Development; Evolution; Diversification; Beetle; Horns

Biologists have some understanding of the genetic, developmental, and ecological mechanisms that cause the traits of organisms, such as the length of a leg or the width of a wing, to change over time. However, they have a limited understanding of the mechanisms that allow traits such as legs or wings to originate in first place. Dr. Armin Moczek is interested in understanding the genetic, developmental, and ecological mechanisms that are involved not just in the modification of preexisting traits, but in their actual origins. His research program is designed to uncover the genetic and developmental origins and subsequent evolutionary diversification of traits that are both novel and highly diverse: the horns of beetles. Many thousands of beetle species have evolved horns used as weapons in male competition over females, and a remarkable diversity of horn types exists. Preliminary results suggest that the origin of horns has been made possible by the use of a wide diversity of genes and developmental processes normally reserved for the development of appendages such as legs or mouthparts. The horns of beetles therefore offer an outstanding opportunity to study how nature reorganizes developmental and genetic processes in order to evolve a novel class of traits for new functions. Dr. Moczek's research combines genetic and developmental approaches to address how beetle horns originated and diversified. He will interface this work with several educational/outreach efforts. First, he will expand the scope and quality of undergraduate education in insect biology through development of an undergraduate course in Entomology. Dr. Moczek has also established a collaboration with a local children's museum of science, health and technology to provide training and educational resources in insect biology to over 120 elementary and middle school teachers. He will train at least 8 young scientists in intensive interdisciplinary research and facilitate educational outreach by recruiting 6 high school teachers and 3 minority high school students into a summer research program in development, evolution, and ecology.

生物学家对导致生物体特征的遗传，发育和生态机制有所了解，例如腿的长度或翅膀的宽度，以随着时间的推移而改变。但是，他们对允许腿部或翅膀等性状的机制的理解有限。 Armin Moczek博士有兴趣了解不仅与先前存在的特征修改有关的遗传，发育和生态机制，而且还涉及其实际起源。他的研究计划旨在揭示既新颖又高度多样化的特征的遗传和发育起源以及随后的进化多样性：甲虫的角。成千上万种甲虫物种在男性竞争女性的武器中进化了角，并且存在着显着的角类型。初步结果表明，通过使用广泛的基因和通常保留用于腿部或吹动器等附属物的发育的多种基因和发育过程，使角的起源成为可能。因此，甲虫的角提供了一个很棒的机会，可以研究自然如何重新组织发展和遗传过程，以发展新功能的新型特征。 Moczek博士的研究结合了遗传和发育方法，以解决甲虫角的起源和多样化。他将通过几项教育/外展工作将这项工作互动。首先，他将通过开发昆虫学课程来扩大昆虫生物学的本科教育的范围和质量。 Moczek博士还与当地儿童科学，健康和技术博物馆建立了合作，为昆虫生物学的培训和教育资源提供了120多名小学和中学教师的培训和教育资源。他将至少培训8位年轻科学家进行密集的跨学科研究，并通过招募6位高中教师和3名少数高中学生来促进教育外展，以开发，进化和生态学的夏季研究计划。