Collaborative Research: Testing for physiological and genetic independence of rapidly evolving lifecycle components in the apple maggot, a model for seasonal adaptation

生物体必须对它们的生命周期进行计时，以避免一年中的压力时期（例如，冬季寒冷，资源缺乏），并利用一年中天气有利，资源丰富的好时光。休眠反应已经在许多生物体中进化，从植物和微生物到哺乳动物和昆虫，以实现与当地季节条件的同步。生物越来越多地受到新的季节性制度的挑战，这些制度是由1）当代气候变化，2）人类发展和城市化引起的栖息地改变，以及3）通过管理或意外引入的物种进入新的地区。因此，了解休眠反应如何迅速演变和补偿季节性变化将是了解在我们快速变化的世界中本地和入侵物种的持久性和传播的关键组成部分。这项研究将描述的机制，允许快速适应新的季节性通过在苹果蛆飞，Rhagoletis pomonella，苹果的主要害虫和快速物种形成的教科书的例子休眠的变化。在过去的200年里，R.苹果蠹蛾已从其原生寄主山楂（山楂）转移到引入的驯化苹果（苹果），并在此过程中在苹果上形成了新的、部分生殖隔离的种群。季节性结果时间在给定区域的植物物种之间差异很大，因此适应新的果实需要适应昆虫的季节性时间。In R.新衍生的苹果种群已经通过越冬休眠期时间的进化差异建立在它们的新宿主果实上，这导致昆虫生长和繁殖的时间匹配，与山楂果实相比，苹果的季节性供应更早。进化以调整休眠时间的生理机制知之甚少，这项研究将利用苍蝇种群之间的变化来量化基因和蛋白质表达的生理差异以及基因组中的差异，这些差异是苍蝇生命周期中关键调控点的适应基础。此外，实验将解决共同的生理机制是否在休眠的三个阶段（休眠诱导，维持和终止）的基础上的适应可能会限制进化的速度或方向变化的季节性。这项基础研究在许多方面都有影响，从保护生物多样性到预测农业生产和入侵物种的传播。除了确定有助于对季节变化做出快速反应的重要特征外，该项目还将加强进化生物学的大学预科教育计划。寄主小种的形成。pomonella提供了一个生态适应和新作物害虫起源的清晰直观的例子，使苍蝇成为进化的优秀大使，这是一个许多学生和公众知之甚少的主题。研究团队此前为STEM教育制定了一个研讨会和推广计划，以增强来自佛罗里达和波多黎各的高中教师和学生的进化知识，为科学课程提供材料。目前的赠款将扩大高中教师培训，增加免费访问的基于网络的课程材料，最重要的是，正式评估教育计划的影响。在讲习班之前、期间和之后进行的基于调查的评估将评估对进化生物学中经常被误解的概念的看法的变化。

Organisms must time their lifecycles to avoid stressful periods of the year (e.g., winter cold and lack of resources) and to exploit the good times of the year when weather is favorable and resources are abundant. Dormancy responses have evolved in many organisms, from plants and microbes to mammals and insects, to achieve synchrony with local seasonal conditions. Organisms are increasingly challenged by new seasonal regimes caused by 1) contemporary climate change, 2) habitat modifications from human development and urbanization, and 3) movement of species into new areas through managed or accidental introductions. Thus, understanding how dormancy responses rapidly evolve and compensate for shifts in seasonality will be a critical component for understanding the persistence and spread of native and invasive species in our rapidly changing world. This research will characterize the mechanisms that allow rapid adaptation to novel seasonality via changes in dormancy in the apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella, a major pest of apples and a textbook example of rapid species formation. Within the last 200 years, R. pomonella has shifted from its native host hawthorn (Crataegus mollis) to introduced, domesticated apple (Malus domestica), and in the process has formed new, partially reproductively isolated populations on apples. Seasonal fruiting time differs substantially among plant species in a given region, so adapting to a novel fruit requires adaptation in insect seasonal timing. In R. pomonella, the newly derived apple population has become established on their novel host fruit via evolved differences in timing of the overwintering dormant stage, which results in temporal matching of insect growth and reproduction with earlier seasonal availability of apple compared to hawthorn fruits. Physiological mechanisms that evolve to adjust dormancy timing are poorly understood, and this research will leverage variation among the fly populations to quantify physiological differences in gene and protein expression and differences in the genome that underlie adaptation at key regulatory points across the fly life cycle. Additionally, experiments will address whether common physiological mechanisms underlie adaptation across the three phases of dormancy (dormancy induction, maintenance, and termination) potentially constraining the rate or direction of evolutionary responses to changing seasonality. This fundamental research has implications in numerous contexts from preserving biodiversity to forecasting agricultural production and the spread of invasive species. Beyond identifying important features facilitating rapid responses to seasonal change, the project will also enhance a pre-collegiate education program in evolutionary biology. Host race formation in R. pomonella provides a clear and intuitive example of ecological adaptation and the genesis of new crop pests, making the flies excellent ambassadors for evolution, a subject poorly understood by many students and the general public. The research team previously developed a workshop and outreach program for STEM education to enhance the evolution knowledge of high school teachers and students from Florida and Puerto Rico, providing materials for science curricula. The current grant will expand the high-school teacher training, add freely accessible web-based curricular materials, and most importantly, formally evaluate the impact of the educational program. Survey-based assessments delivered before, during and after the workshop will assess changes in perception of frequently misunderstood concepts in evolutionary biology.