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

几乎所有动物都利用视觉和嗅觉来感知周围环境。据推测，当一个物种进化为昼行性或夜行性时，其眼睛、嗅觉器官以及与这些结构相关的基因也会进化。然而，这个概念在很大程度上仍未经过测试，因为没有全面的进化树和相关的比较数据。蚕蛾及其近亲是最引人注目的蛾类之一，它们为研究两种潜在互补的感官系统（视觉和嗅觉）如何进化提供了绝佳的机会。该群体包括许多模式生物，例如驯化的蚕和烟草天蛾，它们在生物科学的许多领域发挥着关键作用。一些蚕蛾及其亲缘植物对农业造成损害，但由于它们体型巨大、魅力十足并且能够在课堂上吸引孩子们的注意力，因此它们经常被用作教育工具。尽管它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团队合作，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。将培训两名博士后研究人员、两名研究生、多名本科生以及数十名小学生、初中生和高中生，其中包括许多来自弱势群体的学生。这项研究将产生模式昆虫类群——蚕蛾及其近亲（鳞翅目：家蚕总科）的全面系统发育，并用它来研究两个主要感觉系统的进化：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，初步生成基于 700 个基因位点和 1000 个蚕蛾总科物种的基于目标捕获的主干系统发育。 然后，扫描电子显微镜和 3D 微型计算机断层扫描将用于量化对昆虫视觉和嗅觉至关重要的两个关键器官（眼睛和触角）的感觉形态。 将分析从感觉器官转录组中分离出的视觉和嗅觉基因序列的分子进化，以测试相关昼夜物种之间选择的证据。将使用新方法从冷冻和博物馆标本中分离基因序列，从而使该工具对更广泛的科学家群体有用。

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.