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2500种高级蛇的多样化。毒液被认为是关键的创新，通过扩大捕食机会，启动了蛇物种的进化辐射。该项目将设法确定促进这种多样化的因素和特征，并将检验密切相关物种之间毒液快速进化背后的遗传途径中的偏见。该研究包括培训两名博士后研究人员，以及俄亥俄州和佛罗里达州三所主要州立大学的多名高中生、本科生和研究生。该研究将提供有关毒液化学和功能的新数据，对新药的开发和设计可能有帮助。将在美国、中美洲和巴西收集三科毒蛇的代表性样本，以测试毒液功能与多样化率之间的关系。毒液的复杂性、组成和酶活性谱将被分析，以检验更高的毒液进化能力是快速进化多样化的先决条件这一假设。将选择6对具有高度不同毒液的密切相关物种进行分子分析，以评估导致毒液功能快速进化的遗传和蛋白质变化。这项工作将把多样性研究和适应遗传学结合起来，为适应如何建立以及它们如何影响多样性提供一个综合的视角，从而了解生物多样性是如何在微观到宏观进化水平上起源的。

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.