CAREER: Development and Evolution of Wing Polyphenism in a True Bug

具有翅膀多表型的昆虫，其成虫翅膀的大小和解剖形态都有明显的差异。因此，虽然人类对成年身体和器官的大小和模式具有单一的发育途径，但多食昆虫的不同个体的发育过程必须有所不同。生长调节对人类健康的重要性使得多酚器官大小的研究具有潜在的变革性。一种形式是如何在每个人身上被指定和实现的？这种能力在发生这种能力的物种中是如何进化的？交替的翅膀大小如何影响昆虫向新栖息地的传播？该项目旨在了解导致佛罗里达本土昆虫红肩soapberry bug （Jadera haematoloma）翅膀大小和图案不同的线索和替代发育过程。本项目将采用高通量测序技术比较不同翼型昆虫的基因表达。对于选定的基因，功能测试将检查它们在调节器官大小和翅膀模式中的相互作用和作用。多表型的进化将通过实验室选择在soapberry虫和一种相关昆虫，大型乳草虫（Oncopeltus fasciatus）的翅膀大小变化进行探索，大乳草虫通常生长到一致的成年翅膀大小和图案。这项工作将主要由本科生进行，作为综合课程的一部分，结合分子遗传学，进化生物学和生态学的实践工作，以及与城市生活和适应新环境相关的社会科学和人文课程。公立学校K-12的学生和老师将协助对这些虫子进行实地调查，以确定翅膀的大小与它们从佛罗里达州向东海岸向北扩张的关系。项目人员和本科生将在网上交流知识和经验，向低年级学生说明科研过程。

Insect species with wing polyphenism grow to two distinctly different adult wing sizes, with distinctly different anatomical patterns. Therefore, while humans have a single developmental pathway to the size and pattern of the adult body and organs, the developmental process must diverge for different individuals of polyphenic insects. The importance of growth regulation to human health makes studies of polyphenic organ size potentially transformative. How is one form specified and realized in each individual? How does this ability evolve in the species where it occurs? How can alternate wing sizes affect the spread of insects into new habitats? This project seeks to understand the cues and alternative developmental processes that result in differently sized and patterned wings of a native Florida insect, the red-shouldered soapberry bug (Jadera haematoloma). This project will use high-throughput sequencing to compare the expression of genes in bugs of each wing pattern. For selected genes, functional tests will examine their interactions and roles in regulating organ size and wing pattern. The evolution of polyphenism will be explored by laboratory selection on wing size variation in soapberry bugs and in a related insect, the large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus), which normally grows to a consistent adult wing size and pattern. This work will be conducted largely by undergraduate students, as part of an integrative curriculum that combines hands-on work in molecular genetics, evolutionary biology and ecology with related social science and humanities courses related to urban life and adaptation to new environments. Public K-12 students and teachers will assist in field surveys of the bugs to determine how wing sizes correlate with their northward expansion from Florida up the East Coast. Project personnel and undergraduates will exchange knowledge and experiences online to illustrate the process of scientific research to younger students.