RUI: Genetic Architecture of Juvenile Hormone Sensitivity

RUI：保幼激素敏感性的遗传结构

• 批准号: 1558088
• 负责人: Rebecca Spokony
• 金额: $ 23.09万
• 依托单位: CUNY Baruch College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-01-15 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1558088&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Genetic; Architecture; Juvenile; Hormone

Plasticity is an organism's ability to adjust to environmental conditions. Many insects have an extreme version of plasticity called polyphenism, in which they exhibit new body parts in response to environmental stressors such as a lack of food or increased population density. These alternative morphologies are often controlled by juvenile hormone (JH). Despite acting across the entire organism, only certain tissues respond to changes in JH. This project will elucidate the genetic basis of JH sensitivity in Drosophila melanogaster and use this as a model for the developmental control of polyphenisms in other insects. This project will be implemented as a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) for third year students at Baruch College, CUNY, a Primarily Undergraduate Institution in New York City. The major impact of this project is increased undergraduate participation in research, particularly students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM. Course-based research projects increase the opportunity for students at institutions with small numbers of available individual mentorships. By offering research projects as part of a course, they are made available to students who may not be aware of either the opportunities on campus or the benefits of participation, may not otherwise be chosen for an individual mentorship, and may not have the financial independence to take time away from paying jobs to participate in research. This project will result in an increase in Baruch College graduates joining the STEM workforce.The expected significance of the proposed project is three-fold: First, the range of natural variation in hormone sensitivity across tissues will be determined by measuring the degree of sensitivity in all of the genotyped flies in the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP). This will bolster understanding of developmental plasticity within a single species. Second, the genetic architecture of hormone sensitivity within a population will be determined by performing a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) on the variation data. This will elucidate the genomic distribution of genes involved in hormonal response. Lastly, new genetic targets of the JH pathway will be discovered, greatly increasing the number of known functional targets in this critical pathway. This discovery will provide a hierarchy of JH targets from the hormone receptor level to the downstream effector genes, significantly advancing the field of JH biology. These target genes will then be used to study JH at different developmental time points and across hexapods.

可塑性是生物体适应环境条件的能力。许多昆虫都有一种极端的可塑性，称为多型性，即它们会表现出新的身体部位来应对环境压力，如缺乏食物或人口密度增加。这些替代形态通常由保幼激素（JH）控制。尽管作用于整个生物体，但只有某些组织对JH的变化做出反应。本计画将阐明果蝇对JH敏感性的遗传基础，并以此作为其他昆虫多型性发育控制的模式。 这个项目将作为一个基于课程的本科生研究经验（CURE）在巴鲁克学院，纽约市立大学，在纽约市的一个私立本科院校的三年级学生实施。该项目的主要影响是增加本科生参与研究，特别是来自STEM历史上代表性不足的群体的学生。以课程为基础的研究项目增加了学生在机构的机会与可用的个人辅导数量少。 通过提供研究项目作为课程的一部分，他们提供给学生谁可能不知道无论是在校园里的机会或参与的好处，否则可能不会被选择为个人导师，并可能没有经济独立性，从支付工作中抽出时间参加研究。该项目的预期意义有三个方面：首先，通过测量果蝇遗传参考组（DGRP）中所有基因型果蝇的敏感程度，确定组织间激素敏感性的自然变异范围。这将加强对单一物种内发育可塑性的理解。其次，将通过对变异数据进行全基因组关联研究（GWAS）来确定群体内激素敏感性的遗传结构。这将阐明参与激素反应的基因的基因组分布。最后，将发现JH通路的新遗传靶点，大大增加这一关键通路中已知功能靶点的数量。这一发现将提供从激素受体水平到下游效应基因的JH靶点层次，显著推进JH生物学领域。这些靶基因将用于研究不同发育时间点和六足动物的JH。