Collaborative Research: Dimensions US-BIOTA-Sao Paulo: Scales of biodiversity - Integrated studies of snake venom evolution and function across multiple levels of diversity

该项目将确定毒液系统中的关键创新如何促进2,500种高级蛇的多样化。毒液被假设为通过扩大进食机会而启动蛇类物种进化辐射的关键创新。该项目将设法确定促进这种多样化的因素和特征，并将测试密切相关物种之间毒液快速进化的遗传途径中的偏差。这项研究包括两名博士后研究人员的培训，以及俄亥俄州和佛罗里达三所主要州立大学的多名高中生、本科生和研究生。这项研究将产生关于毒液化学和功能的新数据，这可能对新药发现和设计有用。将在美国、中美洲和巴西收集来自三个毒蛇科的不同物种的代表性样本，以测试毒液功能和多样化率之间的关系。毒液的复杂性，成分和酶活性的配置文件将进行分析，以测试假设，更高的毒液进化是一个先决条件，快速进化多样化。六个密切相关的物种对高度不同的毒液将被选择进行分子检测，以评估负责毒液功能的快速进化的遗传和蛋白质的变化。这项工作将把多样化研究和适应遗传学结合起来，以提供一个综合的视角，说明适应是如何建立的，以及它们如何影响多样化，从而了解生物多样性是如何在微观到宏观进化层面上起源的。

This project will determine how key innovations within the venom system have contributed to diversification in the 2,500 species of advanced snakes. Venom is hypothesized to have been the key innovation initiating the evolutionary radiation of snake species by expanding feeding opportunities. This project will seek to determine the factors and traits that promoted that diversification, and will test for biases in the genetic pathways underlying rapid evolution in venoms between closely related species. The study includes the training of two postdoctoral researchers, and multiple high school, undergraduate, and graduate students at three major state universities in Ohio and Florida. The research will produce new data on venom chemistry and function, which may be useful for novel drug discovery and design.Representative samples of diverse species from three families of venomous snakes will be collected in the United States, Central America, and Brazil to test for relationships between venom function and diversification rates. Venom complexity, composition, and enzymatic-activity profiles will be assayed to test the hypothesis that higher venom evolvability is a prerequisite for rapid evolutionary diversification. Six closely related species pairs with highly divergent venoms will be chosen for molecular assays to evaluate the genetic and protein changes responsible for rapid evolution of venom function. This work will unite diversification studies and the genetics of adaptation to provide an integrated perspective of how adaptations are built and how they affect diversification, leading to an understanding of how biodiversity originates across micro- to macroevolutionary levels.