RCN: Enabling comparative studies of the process and products of sexual selection in a genomic context

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This Research Coordination Network facilitates new interdisciplinary research collaborations that will advance our understanding of the genomic underpinnings of evolutionary processes important in shaping the ecology, physiology, behavior and diversification of organisms. The network brings together pioneers in the application of genomic approaches, researchers with long-term ecological and behavioral data, software developers and information management specialists to enrich, share, and connect large-scale data sets that provide the foundation for tackling fundamental questions of how organismal traits evolve. Products of this effort include an open-access data repository, a publically available genome browser, and a model of how diverse teams of scientists can collaborate to transform independent research across disciplines into a synthetic enterprise that will provide answers to significant biological questions. This Research Coordination Network is designed to address the evolutionary implications of sexual selection from the level of the genome, to physiology and behavior, to the ecosystem using manakins as a model system. These birds inhabit tropical forests, exhibit extraordinary physical and behavioral adaptations and are readily amenable for study. The network unites researchers across many disciplines to engage in a community-wide effort to enrich genomic resources through functional annotation, develop mechanisms to connect related but heterogeneous data, and apply these resources to understand the complex relationships between genomes and environment that produce form and function in living organisms. The network operates through annual meetings, workshops, working groups, and lab exchanges to develop shared genomic resources, an open-access data repository, synthetic papers and proposals, and new educational and research tools.