CAREER: Proximate and Ultimate Causes of Sensory System Evolution

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。非洲慈鲷为理解基因组信息（DNA）如何转化为整个生物体的变异（例如，大小、形状、颜色的差异）提供了一个独特的系统。有超过2000种慈鲷，使它们成为最多样化的脊椎动物之一。慈鲷的众多不同之处在于它们的视觉方式。有些物种对短波长的光(紫外线？绿色)，而其他人对较长的光(蓝色？红色)。这种差异可能会影响慈鲷的行为，并有助于新物种的进化。这些差异引发了几个明显的问题。这些视觉差异是如何由基因控制的？是什么进化力量造成了这些差异？它们是自然选择的结果还是随机发生的？为了回答这些问题，将在具有不同视觉敏感性的慈鲷物种之间进行遗传杂交，并用于分离控制视觉差异的基因。此外，还将对不同物种进行比较，以寻找视觉敏感度与环境（深度、水的清晰度）或生态（它们吃什么、如何捕猎、如何寻找配偶）之间的关系。这项职业补助金还将开发新的教材，以整合物理和生物的教学。这将涉及到感官生物学课程的发展，其中物理概念将在五种感官的生物学背景下引入。这些材料会增强学生的能力吗？对生物和物理科学的理解，并将在网络上提供给其他大学。这项工作的广泛影响包括：1)了解动物多样性是如何产生的；2)通过在非洲马拉维的实地考察训练学生进行国际研究；3)发展将生物、化学和物理方法结合在一起的综合研究和教学计划。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).African cichlid fishes provide a unique system for understanding how genomic information (DNA) is converted into whole organism variation (e.g., differences in size, shape, color). There are more than 2000 species of cichlid fishes, making them some of the most diverse vertebrates. One of the many ways in which cichlid species differ is how they see. Some species are more sensitive to short wavelength light (ultraviolet ? green), while others are sensitive to longer light (blue ? red). Such differences could influence cichlid behavior, and contribute to the evolution of new species. These differences raise several obvious questions. How are these visual differences genetically controlled? What evolutionary forces are responsible for these differences? Are they the result of natural selection or do they happen randomly? To answer these questions, genetic crosses will be made between cichlid species with different visual sensitivities and used to isolate the genes controlling visual differences. In addition, comparisons will be made between different species to look for correlations between visual sensitivities and either environment (depth, water clarity) or ecology (what they eat, how they hunt, how they find mates). This CAREER grant will also develop new educational materials to integrate the teaching of physics and biology. This will involve the development of a sensory biology class where physics concepts are introduced in the biological context of the five senses. These materials will strengthen students? understanding of the biological and physical sciences and will be made available to other universities on the web. The broader impacts of this work include 1) understanding how animal diversity is created, 2) training students in international research through field work in Malawi, Africa, and 3) development of integrative research and teaching programs which weave together biological, chemical and physical approaches.