Molecular Basis of Social Decision Making: Towards a Mechanistic View of Mate Choice

雌性如何选择配偶？雌性配偶选择促进了种群分化和生物多样性，但我们对生殖生理如何影响配偶选择并最终影响生物多样性的了解非常有限。在这个项目中，来自东非五大湖的慈鱼将被用来解开雌性生殖周期的行为、生理和分子基础。慈鱼提供了一个独特的机会，将女性性行为的分子和神经基础与配偶选择的功能结合起来。这项研究将集中在文昌鱼和交配罗非鱼上，前者已成为研究社会行为的生理、分子和基因组基础的主要模式系统，后者在非常接近的物种中表现出极大的交配系统多样性。这三个目标将(I)分析女性性行为与整个生殖周期中荷尔蒙、形态和转录变化的关联；(Ii)测试前脑中哪些转录事件与配偶选择决策有关；以及(Iii)确定生殖激素对配偶选择的影响。通过结合和整合多个层次的调查和开发壮观的池鱼生物多样性，该项目提供了一个从药理学、神经解剖学、生理学、分子和基因组学角度解释配偶选择的特殊机会。该项目将为城市高中生、本科生、研究生和博士后研究员，包括代表性不足群体的成员提供突出的教育福利。

How do females choose a mate? Female mate selection promotes population divergence and biodiversity, yet our understanding of how reproductive physiology affects mate selection and ultimately biodiversity is very limited. In this project, cichlid fishes from the East African Great Lakes will be used to unravel the behavioral, physiological and molecular underpinnings of the female reproductive cycle. Cichlids provide a unique opportunity to integrate the molecular and neural basis of female sexuality with the function of mate choice. The research will focus on the cichlid species Astatotilapia burtoni, which has become a major model system to study the physiological, molecular and genomic basis of social behavior, as well as the genus Xenotilapia, which exhibits an extraordinary diversity of mating systems in very closely related species. The three aims will (i) analyze the association of female sexual behavior with hormonal, morphological, and transcriptional changes throughout the reproductive cycle; (ii) test which transcriptional events in the forebrain are associated with mate choice decisions; and (iii) determine the effects of reproductive hormones on mate choice. By combining and integrating multiple levels of investigation and exploiting the spectacular biodiversity of cichlid fishes this project provides an exceptional opportunity to explain mate choice in pharmacological, neuroanatomical, physiological, molecular and genomic terms. This project will provide outstanding educational benefits to urban high school students, undergraduate, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, including members of underrepresented groups.