DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Genetics of Adaptation and Diversification in the avian genus Zosterops

从达尔文时代到现在，理解地球上产生大量物种的过程是生物学家一直关注的一个根本挑战。通过利用大规模并行DNA测序方法，该项目将解决印度尼西亚群岛苏拉威西岛上发现的一群鸟类(白眼鸟或带鱼)迅速多样化的问题。这项研究将利用全基因组测序来比较一组密切相关的带状动物物种之间的差异水平。这种方法将允许检测基因组的区域，这些区域可能导致我们在这种显着的雀形目鸟类辐射中看到的羽毛迅速分化。此外，印度尼西亚是许多濒临灭绝的鸟类的家园，随着新的基因技术的到来，像这项研究这样的研究可能会揭示神秘的多样性，因此更多的潜在濒危物种需要保护努力。通过描述新的种群和/或物种，研究结果将与印尼政府分享，希望为保护政策提供信息，并帮助保护它们独特和多样化的生物。本研究采用综合方法来阐明Wallacea独特多样性背后的系统地理和进化过程。来自该项目的基因组数据将提供一个无与伦比的视角，了解推动Wallacea地区高度特有和物种丰富的潜在过程。此外，它还将提供对地球上最特殊的鸟类之一(Zosteropps)多样化背后的过程的详细观察。在这种情况下，只有一项其他研究(达尔文雀类)在岛屿之间和快速物种谱系内的环境梯度上进行过。此外，整个华莱西亚族和澳大拉西亚热带地区的研究仍然很少。

Understanding the processes generating the multitude of species on earth is a fundamental challenge that has preoccupied biologists since Darwin's time to the present. By utilizing massive-parallel DNA sequencing methodologies this project will address questions concerning the rapid diversification of a group birds (White-eyes or Zosterops) found on the island of Sulawesi in the Indonesian archipelago. This study will make use of whole genome sequencing to compare levels of divergence among a suite of closely related Zosterops species. This approach will permit the detection of regions of the genome that are potentially responsible for the rapid divergence in plumage that we see among this remarkable radiation of passerine birds. Further, Indonesia is home to many birds that are on the brink of extinction, and with the advent of new genetic techniques, research such as this study will likely uncover cryptic diversity and hence many more potentially endangered species requiring conservation efforts. Through the description of new populations and/or species, the research findings will be shared with the Indonesian government in hopes of informing conservation policy and helping to preserve their unique and diverse biota.This study takes an integrated approach to elucidate phylogeographic, and evolutionary processes that underlie the unique diversity of Wallacea. Genomic data from this project will provide an unparalleled perspective on the underlying processes that are driving high levels of endemism and species richness in the region of Wallacea. Furthermore, it will provide a detailed view into the processes underlying the diversification of one of the most speciose groups of birds on the planet (Zosterops). Only one other study has ever been performed in this context (Darwin's Finches), between islands and along environmental gradients within a rapidly speciating lineage. Furthermore the entire region of Wallacea and the Australasian tropics remains vastly understudied. Understanding the genomic changes among members of the Sulawesi Zosterops species complex will reveal evolutionarily and ecologically important loci underlying the processes that have allowed this group to radiate across the Old World and thus provide insight into the drivers of global avian diversification.