RUI Collaborative Research: Untangling tropical diversity: a phylogenetic analysis of tritrophic interactions

RUI 合作研究：解开热带多样性：三营养相互作用的系统发育分析

• 批准号: 0949361
• 负责人: Martha Condon
• 金额: $ 27.08万
• 依托单位: Cornell College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-02-15 至 2016-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0949361&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Collaborative; Research; Untangling; tropical

Plants and insects represent the majority of multicellular species on Earth. Most of those species are tropical; yet, most species in the tropics remain undiscovered. The proposed research has three primary goals: 1) discover and describe species of parasitic wasps that attack a very diverse group of plant-feeding flies; 2) discover patterns of host-use by the wasps; and, 3) reconstruct the history of the wasps' diversification (the evolution of many wasp species). To reach these goals, the team of investigators and their students will collect and rear insects, analyze the DNA of immature stages and adults, and analyze physical traits of adults. This project addresses a major biological question: is diversification mediated by interactions among organisms or is diversification an ecologically neutral process? The project focuses on three groups of economically important organisms: plants related to pumpkins; fruit flies related to major agricultural pests; and wasps that attack the flies and are potentially important for pest control. Undergraduate education is a key component of the project. Undergraduates will be involved in all aspects of the research, including fieldwork in the tropics, molecular data collection and analysis in the laboratory, and communication and dissemination of the research.

植物和昆虫代表了地球上大多数的多细胞物种。这些物种中的大多数是热带的;然而，热带的大多数物种仍然未被发现。拟议的研究有三个主要目标：1）发现和描述攻击一个非常多样化的食草蝇群的寄生蜂物种; 2）发现黄蜂使用宿主的模式; 3）重建黄蜂多样化的历史（许多黄蜂物种的进化）。为了实现这些目标，研究人员和他们的学生团队将收集和饲养昆虫，分析未成熟阶段和成虫的DNA，并分析成虫的身体特征。该项目涉及一个主要的生物学问题：多样化是由生物体之间的相互作用介导的，还是一个生态中性的过程？该项目侧重于三类具有重要经济意义的生物：与南瓜有关的植物;与主要农业害虫有关的果蝇;以及攻击果蝇并对害虫防治具有潜在重要性的黄蜂。本科教育是该项目的一个关键组成部分。本科生将参与研究的各个方面，包括热带地区的实地考察，实验室的分子数据收集和分析，以及研究的交流和传播。