NSF DEB-NERC: Phylogenomics and Sensory Systems Evolution in Silkmoths and Relatives

NSF DEB-NERC：蚕蛾及其近缘种的系统基因组学和感觉系统进化

• 批准号: 1557007
• 负责人: Akito Kawahara
• 金额: $ 79.64万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-01 至 2022-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1557007&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; DEB; NERC; Phylogenomics; Sensory

Nearly all animals use sight and smell to sense their surroundings. It is assumed that when a species evolves to become diurnal or nocturnal, its eyes, olfactory organs, and the genes associated with these structures also evolve. However, this concept remains largely untested, because a comprehensive evolutionary tree and associated comparative data are not available. Silkmoths and relatives are some of the most conspicuous moths, and they provide an excellent opportunity to study how two potentially complementary sensory systems -- sight and smell -- have evolved. The group includes many model organisms, such as the domesticated silkmoth and tobacco hornworm, which play key roles in many areas of the biological sciences. Some silkmoths and relatives are damaging to agriculture, and they are frequently used as an educational tool because of their large size, charisma, and ability to captivate children in classrooms. Despite their role in science and education, this model group still lacks a robust estimate of evolutionary relationships. With collaborative research teams in the United States and the United Kingdom, this project will assemble an extensive genetic dataset and reconstruct a robust evolutionary tree for the group. Two postdoctoral researchers, two graduates students, several undergraduates, and dozens of elementary, middle and high school students will be trained, including many students from under-represented groups. This study will produce a comprehensive phylogeny of a model insect group, the silkmoths and relatives (Lepidoptera: Bombycoidea) and use it to study the evolution of two principal sensory systems: vision and olfaction. The project will develop a US-UK collaborative partnership across five institutions to initially generate a target capture-based backbone phylogeny based on 700 genetic loci and 1000 species of Bombycoidea. Scanning electron microscopy and 3D Micro-computed Tomography scanning will then be used to quantify sensory morphology of two key organs (eye and antenna) that are central to insect vision and olfaction. The molecular evolution of vision and olfactory gene sequences isolated from sensory organ transcriptomes will be analyzed to test for evidence of selection between related diurnal and nocturnal species. Gene sequences will be isolated from frozen and museum specimens using new methodologies, thereby making this tool useful to the broader community of scientists.

几乎所有的动物都用视觉和嗅觉来感知周围的环境。据推测，当一个物种进化成白天活动或夜间活动时，它的眼睛、嗅觉器官以及与这些结构相关的基因也会进化。然而，这一概念在很大程度上仍未得到检验，因为没有全面的演变树和相关的比较数据。蚕蛾及其近亲是最引人注目的蛾类，它们为研究视觉和嗅觉这两个潜在的互补感觉系统是如何进化的提供了极好的机会。这一组包括许多模式生物，如驯养的蚕蛾和烟草天蛾，它们在生物科学的许多领域发挥着关键作用。一些蚕蛾及其近亲对农业有害，它们经常被用作教育工具，因为它们的体型大，魅力大，能够在教室里吸引孩子们。尽管他们在科学和教育中发挥着重要作用，但这个模型组仍然缺乏对进化关系的可靠估计。该项目将与美国和英国的合作研究小组一起，收集广泛的遗传数据集，并为该群体重建一个强大的进化树。两名博士后研究人员，两名研究生，几名本科生和几十名小学，初中和高中学生将接受培训，其中包括许多来自代表性不足群体的学生。这项研究将产生一个全面的模式昆虫群，蚕蛾和亲戚（鳞翅目：蚕蛾总科）的进化史，并使用它来研究两个主要的感觉系统的进化：视觉和嗅觉。该项目将在五个机构之间建立美英合作伙伴关系，以初步产生基于700个遗传基因座和1000种介体类的目标捕获骨干基因。 扫描电子显微镜和3D微计算机断层扫描将用于量化两个关键器官（眼睛和触角）的感觉形态，这两个器官对昆虫的视觉和嗅觉至关重要。 视觉和嗅觉基因序列分离的感觉器官转录组的分子进化将进行分析，以测试相关的昼夜和夜间物种之间的选择的证据。将使用新的方法从冷冻标本和博物馆标本中分离基因序列，从而使这一工具对更广泛的科学家群体有用。