Reproductive pairing, conflict and offspring size in a marine snail.

海螺的繁殖配对、冲突和后代大小。

• 批准号: 0929057
• 负责人: Richard Grosberg
• 金额: $ 74万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-15 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0929057&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Reproductive; pairing; conflict; offspring; size

All organisms face two allocation trade-offs: one between many small versus a few large offspring; and the second between present and future reproduction. Nowhere are these allocation trade-offs more apparent than in the vast range of variation in egg, offspring, and clutch size exhibited among species of marine invertebrates. It has become increasingly clear that, in many taxa of marine and terrestrial organisms, there is substantial intraspecific variation for egg and hatching size. This project focuses on a rarely considered, but potentially widespread, source of variation in egg and offspring size, namely, the inevitable conflicts of interest that arise over the optimal distribution of parental resources among siblings. The reproductive pairing system - because of its effects on the relatedness of interacting siblings - can have a decisive impact on the magnitude and resolution of these conflicts. This research characterizes how variation in the pairing system of a marine snail (Nucella ostrina) accounts for variation in maternal provisioning and offspring size. The work will also establish whether shifts in the reproductive pairing system correspond to patterns and modes of maternal provisioning across the entire genus of Nucella. This project has several broad scientific implications: 1) Polyandry and encapsulation of offspring are widespread in marine organisms, angiosperms, and matrotrophic animals; however, few studies have considered their evolutionary ramifications, especially their costs. 2) Reproductive pairing system and parental-offspring conflict may also drive the evolution of post-zygotic reproductive isolation. This research brings to light a novel and potentially widespread mechanism causing such isolation in marine systems. 3) This study examines consequence of the links between oceanographic processes that affect recruitment of prey species, such as barnacles and mussels, and their predators. Unlike other well-studied predators such as seastars, Nucella has limited dispersal potential, hence is far more likely to exhibit spatially constrained population dynamics as well as adaptations that reflect varying food supplies. 4) The research will advance our understanding of the scale of ecological and evolutionary connections among members of marine communities, providing the foundation for scientifically informed design of marine reserve networks that sustain both species and genetic diversity. The snail, Nucella, has similarities to marine animal predators on commercially important marine resource species.The project will interface with three outreach/training programs, including a collaborative program for undergraduates working at the interface of math and biology, an REU program that recruits a diverse population of local high-school students to collaborate on faculty research projects, and a program that provides Ph.D. students with hands-on experience in K-12 classrooms, and K-12 teachers and students experience with in the latest technical and conceptual advances in ocean science. This project will support a molecular ecology website and associated workshops, and a multi-user DNA facility to train these students, postdocs, and K-12 teachers in state-of-the-art molecular genetic analysis. It will support a number of young scientists, giving them multidisciplinary training at the interface of behavior, ecology, evolution, and marine biology.

所有生物都面临两种分配权衡：一种是许多小的后代与少数大的后代之间的权衡;第二种是现在和未来的繁殖之间的权衡。没有什么地方比在海洋无脊椎动物物种之间表现出的卵、后代和窝卵数的巨大变化范围更明显的了。越来越清楚的是，在海洋和陆地生物的许多分类群中，卵和孵化大小存在很大的种内差异。这个项目的重点是一个很少考虑的，但可能广泛的，在鸡蛋和后代大小的变化来源，即，不可避免的利益冲突，出现在兄弟姐妹之间的父母资源的最佳分配。生殖配对系统--由于它对相互作用的兄弟姐妹的亲缘关系的影响--可以对这些冲突的规模和解决方案产生决定性的影响。本研究的特点是如何变化的配对系统的海洋蜗牛（Nucella ostrina）占产妇供应和后代大小的变化。这项工作还将确定生殖配对系统的变化是否与整个珠母贝属的母性供应模式和模式相对应。 这个项目有几个广泛的科学意义：1）一妻多夫制和后代的包囊广泛存在于海洋生物，被子植物和母系营养动物中;然而，很少有研究考虑到它们的进化后果，特别是它们的成本。2)生殖配对系统和亲子冲突也可能驱动合子后生殖隔离的进化。这项研究揭示了一种新的和潜在的广泛机制，导致这种隔离在海洋系统中。3)本研究探讨海洋过程之间的联系，影响招聘的猎物物种，如藤壶和贻贝，和他们的捕食者的后果。与其他研究充分的捕食者，如海星，Nucella有限的扩散潜力，因此更有可能表现出空间限制的人口动态以及适应，反映不同的食物供应。4)这项研究将促进我们对海洋群落成员之间生态和进化联系规模的理解，为科学地设计维持物种和遗传多样性的海洋保护区网络提供基础。 该项目将与三个拓展/培训项目对接，包括一个针对数学和生物学专业本科生的合作项目，一个REU项目，该项目招募了不同人群的当地高中生，以合作开展教师研究项目，以及一个提供博士学位的项目。学生在K-12教室的实践经验，和K-12教师和学生的经验，在海洋科学的最新技术和概念的进步。该项目将支持一个分子生态学网站和相关的研讨会，以及一个多用户DNA设施，以培训这些学生，博士后和K-12教师进行最先进的分子遗传分析。它将支持一些年轻科学家，在行为，生态学，进化和海洋生物学的界面上为他们提供多学科培训。