Collaborative Research: Plumage redness and good genes in the House Finch

合作研究：羽毛红色与家雀的优良基因

• 批准号: 0923088
• 负责人: Scott Edwards
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Harvard University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-08-15 至 2012-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0923088&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Plumage; redness; good

Male birds display remarkable variation in plumage coloration, and females assess these differences when selecting mates. The rationale for such mate choice is that ornamentation is correlated with genetic quality so that, by choosing colorful males, females obtain good genes for their offspring. Genes contributing to greater disease resistance are quintessential in the natural world because pathogens greatly affect their hosts' reproduction and survival. As a result, "resistance" genes have often been assumed to be the good genes associated with bright coloration. The hypothesis of plumage coloration signaling good genes will be tested first by determining which genes are switched on or off when House Finches are infected with the bacterial pathogen, Mycoplasma gallicepticum. Gene expression will be determined using tools called microarrays that can accurately quantify the increase or decrease in expression of thousands of genes simultaneously. Gene expression patterns will be compared between brightly colored and drably colored male House finches. If the Good Genes Hypothesis is correct, brighter males should show different gene expression profiles than drabber ones. Furthermore, the turning on of specific genes known to play a role in disease resistance will help determine whether plumage coloration is associated with specific good genes. This research is important because it improves understanding of the evolutionary processes that lead to the evolution of disease resistance. Understanding all facets of disease resistance is crucial for predicting and responding to the threats of emerging infectious diseases in wildlife, domestic animals, and humans.

雄性鸟在选择伴侣时评估这些差异的羽毛色素显着差异。 这种伴侣选择的基本原理是装饰与遗传质量相关，因此，通过选择五颜六色的雄性，女性为后代获得了良好的基因。在自然世界中，导致更大疾病的基因是典型的，因为病原体极大地影响了其宿主的繁殖和生存。结果，通常认为“抗性”基因是与亮色相关的良好基因。羽毛着色信号传导的假设将首先通过确定在用细菌病原体（Mycoplasma Gallicepticum）感染时打开或关闭哪些基因来测试哪些基因。 将使用称为微阵列的工具确定基因表达，该工具可以同时准确地量化数千个基因表达的增加或减少。将在鲜艳的雄性房屋雀科之间比较基因表达模式。 如果良好的基因假设是正确的，那么明亮的雄性应表现出不同于乏味的基因表达谱。 此外，已知在抗病性中发挥作用的特定基因的打开将有助于确定羽毛着色是否与特定的好基因相关。这项研究很重要，因为它可以提高对导致疾病抗性进化的进化过程的理解。 了解抗病的所有方面对于预测和应对野生动植物，家畜和人类新兴传染病的威胁至关重要。