DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Genetic mechanisms of size control and allometric growth

几千年来，分类学家使用形态特征对物种进行了识别和分类，但直到最近才有可能理解导致这些差异的遗传变化。飞鱼(飞鱼科)有极其夸张的成对鳍和延长的下尾叶，使它们能够长时间地滑出水面，而与之密切相关的半喙类(包括水飞鱼)有正常的鳍延伸。在这个项目中，研究人员将验证一种假设，即影响斑马鱼尾鳍叶长度变化的钾通道基因也调节着飞鱼的尾鳍形态。将开发一种新的分析管道来：1)在飞鱼和Medaka的外显子组序列中识别与鳍长度差异相关的单核苷酸多态(SNPs)，以及2)将这些SNPs映射到斑马鱼的基因组上，以便进行功能测试。这项研究将培训一名研究生掌握不同的发育、遗传、系统和进化技术，并将大量的飞鱼基因组序列数据存储在公共数据库中。为分析SNP数据而开发的分析管道也将对其他有兴趣研究非模式物种形态进化的遗传基础的研究人员具有广泛的适用性。

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.