Collaborative Research: Adaptation Across Latitude and Altitude: Genomics, Morphology, and Physiology of Montane Bumble Bees

了解物种应对环境变化的方式在进化生物学中至关重要，并对预测生物对全球变化的反应具有重要意义。对环境变化的适应可以通过检查大范围环境中的生理和遗传变异来推断，但传播的空间、物理或环境障碍也会影响这些特征的分布。跨纬度和海拔梯度出现的物种在梳理不同的进化力量如何与环境变化相互作用以形成形态、生理和遗传多样性方面具有独特的优势。本项目将研究山地大黄蜂对环境变化的生理和基因组反应。鉴于传粉媒介减少的证据和对未来环境变化的普遍预期，研究结果将同时解决有关进化适应的问题，并在预测气候和迁徙障碍对关键传粉媒介群体的影响方面取得进展。该项目将结合加州、俄勒冈州和华盛顿州野外和实验室饲养种群的生理和形态学测量与下一代基因组DNA测序，以提供适应非生物梯度的几条证据。需要解决的问题包括：(1)身体和翅膀形态在纬度和海拔上的变化是否符合对体温调节和飞行压力的预测反应？(2)是纬度和海拔通过扩散限制驱动基因变化，还是基因表现出环境适应的特征？(3)在纬度和海拔极端条件下饲养的实验蜜蜂在飞行生理和基因表达调控方面是否存在差异？

Understanding the ways in which species cope with environmental variability is of fundamental importance in evolutionary biology and has implications for predicting organismal responses to global change. Adaptation to environmental variation can be inferred by examining physiological and genetic variation across a broad range of environments, but spatial, physical, or environmental barriers to dispersal also influence the distribution of such characteristics. Species that occur across latitude and elevation gradients present unique advantages for teasing apart how different evolutionary forces interact with environmental variation to shape morphological, physiological, and genetic diversity. This project will investigate physiological and genomic responses to environmental variation in montane bumblebees. In light of evidence for pollinator declines and widespread expectations for future environmental changes, results will simultaneously address questions about evolutionary adaptation, and yield advancements to predict impacts of climate and migration barriers on a key pollinator group. This project will combine measurements of physiology and morphology with next-generation genomic DNA sequencing in wild and laboratory reared populations sampled across California, Oregon, and Washington to produce several lines of evidence for adaptation to abiotic gradients. Questions to be addressed include: (1) Does variation in body and wing morphology across latitude and altitude match predicted responses to pressures on thermoregulation and flight? (2) Do latitude and altitude drive genetic change through dispersal limitations, or do genes exhibit signatures of environmental adaptation? (3) Do laboratory bees reared from latitude and altitude extremes exhibit differences in flight physiology and gene expression regulation in laboratory flight challenges?