DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Genetic mechanisms of size control and allometric growth

几千年来，分类学家利用形态特征对物种进行鉴定和分类，但直到最近才有可能了解导致这些差异的遗传变化。飞鱼（飞鱼科）有非常夸张的成对鳍和一个延伸的下尾叶，这使得它们可以长时间滑翔离开水，而密切相关的半喙类（包括Medakas）则有正常的鳍延伸。在本项目中，研究人员将验证影响斑马鱼尾鳍长度变化的钾通道基因也调节飞鱼尾鳍形态的假设。一个新的分析管道将被开发：1)在飞鱼和Medaka的外显子组序列中识别与鳍长差异相关的单核苷酸多态性（snp）， 2)将这些snp映射到斑马鱼基因组中，以便进行功能测试。这项研究将培养一名研究生掌握多种发育、遗传、系统和进化技术，并将大量飞鱼基因组序列数据存入公共数据库。用于分析SNP数据的分析管道也将广泛适用于其他对研究非模式物种形态进化的遗传基础感兴趣的研究人员。

Species have been identified and classified by taxonomists using morphological traits for millennia, but only recently has it been possible to understand the genetic changes causing these differences. Flying fishes (Exocoetidae) have extremely exaggerated paired fins and an extended lower caudal lobe that allow them to glide for extended periods out of water, whereas the closely related halfbeak group (including Medakas) have normal fin extensions. In this project researchers will test the hypothesis that Potassium channel genes that are affect caudal fin lobe length variation in zebra fish are also regulating caudal fin morphology in flying fishes. A new analysis pipeline will be developed to: 1) identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) correlated with differences in fin length within exome sequences of flying fishes and Medaka, and 2) map these SNPs onto the zebra fish genome to allow for functional testing.This research will train a graduate student in diverse developmental, genetic, systematic and evolutionary techniques and will deposit extensive genome sequence data from flying fishes in public databases. The analysis pipeline developed to analyze the SNP data will also have broad applicability for other researchers interested in investigating the genetic basis of morphological evolution in non-model species.