Using modern molecular methods to identify and dissect the genetic basis of polymorphic shell coloration of the common Grove snail Cepea nemoralis

识别和理解产生表型多样性的机制是进化生物学的基本目标。令人惊讶的是，很少有这种变异的例子被全面理解（从基因型到表型，从个体到群体）。在孟德尔遗传模式的支配下，普通的小树林蜗牛（Cepea nemoralis）有多种多样的色素外壳形态，几十年来一直是进化生物学家和种群遗传学家的研究对象。然而，豌豆产生这种色素壳多样性的分子机制仍然完全未知。使用各种技术（下一代测序，数字基因表达谱，空间基因表达分析，拉曼光谱和各种蛋白质表征技术），我们将识别和表征影响这种变异的遗传位点。这些技术将在两种主要方法的框架内使用，以增加识别这些基因座的机会：基因型到表型方法，反之亦然。本提案中计划的工作将为这种进化模型带来分子水平的理解，补充已经建立的种群生态学和孟德尔遗传知识。大规模的国际努力监测整个欧洲的线虫壳形态的频率（如进化Megalab）将受益于这一建议的结果，为更深入地研究这一长期存在的进化模型铺平了道路。

Identifying and understanding the mechanisms that generate phenotypic diversity is a fundamental goal of evolutionary biology. Surprisingly few examples of such variation are holistically understood (from genotype to phenotype, and from the individual to the population). With a diversity of pigmented shell morphotypes governed by Mendelian patterns of inheritance, the common Grove snail Cepea nemoralis has been a model for evolutionary biologists and population geneticists for decades. However, the molecular mechanisms by which Cepea generates this pigmented shell diversity remain completely unknown. Using a variety of techniques (next generation sequencing, digital gene expression profiling, spatial gene expression analysis, Raman spectroscopy and a variety of protein characterisation techniques) we will identify and characterise the genetic loci that influence this variation. These techniques will be employed within the framework of two main approaches in order to increase the chances of identifying these loci: a genotype to phenotype approach and vice versa. The work planned within this proposal will bring a molecular level of understanding to this model of evolution, complementing the population ecology and Mendelian genetic knowledge of Cepea that is already well established. Large scale international efforts to monitor the frequencies of C. nemoralis shell morphotypes across Europe (such as The Evolution Megalab) will benefit from the results of this proposal, paving the way for more in depth studies of this long standing model of evolution.