DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Genetic Basis of Red Female Throat Coloration in Sticklebacks--to Dimorphism and Back Again

论文研究：刺鱼红色雌性喉咙颜色的遗传基础——二态性和回归

• 批准号: 1311369
• 负责人: Jeffrey McKinnon
• 金额: $ 1.91万
• 依托单位: East Carolina University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-06-01 至 2015-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1311369&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Genetic; Basis; Red

Males, but not females, of many animal species possess ?ornaments,? conspicuous traits that function mainly in a social context. In some species, however, females also display conspicuous ornaments, resulting in reduced sexual dimorphism. Such mutually shared ornaments have long been thought to evolve in females mainly as a byproduct of selection on males, owing to the expression of the same genes in both sexes?the ?genetic correlation? hypothesis. However, little is known about the genetic basis of female ornaments. The proposed research seeks to understand the genetic basis of a female ornament, red throat coloration, in the threespine stickleback fish. The red throat coloration of male sticklebacks is well studied; thus, the recent discovery of this trait in females of some populations creates a research opportunity. In the proposed work, Quantitative Trait Loci mapping will be used to identify genomic regions associated with female and male throat coloration for crosses between populations with and without red-throated females, enabling a test of the genetic correlation hypothesis. Sexual dimorphism is increasingly thought of as an important aspect of biodiversity. Thus this study will improve understanding of the genetic basis of a poorly explored aspect of animal diversity. Because sex differences are associated with variation in the onset, prevalence, and severity of many diseases, an improved understanding of the evolutionary genetics of sexual dimorphism may also have medical value. This project will contribute to the training of students from under-represented groups and will be featured in outreach efforts.

很多动物的雄性，而不是雌性，都有？装饰品？主要在社会环境中起作用的显著特征。然而，在某些物种中，雌性也会显示出明显的装饰物，导致两性异形减少。长期以来，人们一直认为，这种相互共享的装饰物主要是在雌性中进化而来的，是对雄性进行选择的副产品，这是因为在两性中表达了相同的基因。的？遗传相关性？假说. 然而，人们对女性饰品的遗传基础知之甚少。这项拟议中的研究旨在了解三刺鱼中雌性装饰物红喉色的遗传基础。雄性棘鱼的红喉色已经得到了很好的研究;因此，最近在一些种群的雌性中发现了这种特征，这创造了一个研究机会。在拟议的工作中，定量性状基因定位将被用来确定与女性和男性喉咙着色与红喉女性和不红喉女性的人群之间的交叉基因组区域，使遗传相关性假设的测试。 两性异形越来越被认为是生物多样性的一个重要方面。因此，这项研究将提高对动物多样性中一个探索不足的方面的遗传基础的理解。由于性别差异与许多疾病的发病、流行和严重程度的变化有关，因此对性二型性的进化遗传学的进一步理解也可能具有医学价值。该项目将有助于培训代表性不足群体的学生，并将成为外联工作的重点。