Collaborative Research: Causes and Consequences of Signal Evolution

摘要提案IOS- 1052247大多数动物有复杂的一套特征（性状）用于通信。例如，一个蓝色的皮肤信号块需要动物有一只对蓝色波长的光敏感的眼睛。 整合相关性状集的机制尚未得到充分研究，并且对这些复杂相关性的生理基础以及机制如何在物种之间变化知之甚少。 该项目将详细说明这种机制的相关特征，以及他们如何可能是“分开？在进化上，通过研究Sceloporus属（栅栏蜥蜴）中的12种密切相关的蜥蜴物种，其中有一种特定的新的交流特征的重复起源。与视觉和化学通讯的共同进化相关的生理和遗传机制的研究将评估参与信号产生的性状（例如，分泌物的化学成分;产生颜色的皮肤细胞;激素控制器）和信号接收（例如，眼睛的颜色敏感性;鼻区感觉组织的化学敏感性）。 当研究物种密切相关时，PI还将开发分析相关性状数据所需的统计方法。由此产生的能够进行这种统计分析的软件将在网上免费提供给其他研究人员。有各种更广泛的影响。首先，本科生和研究生将接受生物化学，分子生物学，神经生理学，动物行为学，进化生物学和生物统计学研究人员的培训并与他们合作。其次，资金将通过促进美国不同学科和机构的科学家之间的合作来加强研究和教育的基础设施，同时也促进了许多研究物种出现的墨西哥。第三，PI将通过与两个印第安纳州科学博物馆合作建立基于该项目的展览，并通过将研究成果与当地K-12科学教师的持续外展活动联系起来，提高公众对科学和技术的理解。

HEWS LAY Abstract proposal IOS- 1052247 Most animals have complex sets of characteristics (traits) used in communication. A blue-colored signaling patch of skin, for example, requires the animals have an eye that is sensitive to blue wavelengths of light. Mechanisms integrating sets of correlated traits are not well-studied, and comparatively little is known about the physiological bases of these complex correlations, and how mechanisms may vary across species. The project will detail such mechanisms underlying correlated traits, and how they may be "pulled apart? evolutionarily, by studying twelve closely-related lizard species in the genus Sceloporus (fence lizards), in which there are repeated origins of a specific novel communicative trait. Studies of physiological and genetic mechanisms related to the co-evolution of visual and chemical communication will assess traits involved in both signal production (e.g., chemical components of secretions; skin cells producing color; hormone controllers) and signal reception (e.g., color-sensitivity of the eye; chemical sensitivity of the sensory tissues in the nasal region) . The PIs will also develop statistical methods needed to analyze data on correlated traits when the study species are closely related. The resulting software enabling such statistical analyses will be made freely available online for other researchers. There are diverse broader impacts. First, undergraduate and graduate student will be trained by and will collaborate with researchers in biochemistry, molecular biology, neurophysiology, animal behavior, evolutionary biology, and biostatistics. Second, funding will enhance infrastructure for research and education by facilitating collaborations between scientists in different disciplines and institutions in the US, and also in Mexico where many of the study species occur. Third, the PIs will enhance scientific and technological understanding of the public by collaborating with two Indiana science museums to establish displays based on the project, and by connecting research outcomes with ongoing outreach activities with local K-12 science teachers.