Doctoral Dissertation Research: Adaptations for insectivory in digestive enzymes of primates

昆虫是许多灵长类动物饮食的重要组成部分，并且被认为在灵长类动物家族的进化中发挥了重要作用。支撑食虫性的生理适应尚不清楚，本论文研究项目将研究内部饮食适应，如消化酶，灵长类动物用来消化这种重要的食物资源。研究结果将为研究饮食生态的进化、生态位分离和灵长类物种的特化提供洞见。该项目将支持在本科和研究生阶段对女性和代表性不足的少数民族学生进行学术培训和指导。本科生将有机会开发和开展自己的研究项目，并在罗格斯大学本科生研究研讨会上展示他们的研究成果。将开发并免费分发一个向小学生解释饮食适应的在线教育模块。本教学资源将纳入本研究的结果，以及有关人类学田野调查的信息，旨在培养K-12学生对科学和人类进化的兴趣。昆虫食用在人类和非人类灵长类动物中普遍存在，并且被认为是灵长类动物进化的驱动力，选择了灵长类动物的视觉系统和其他形态特征。昆虫，尤其是白蚁，可能是早期人类的重要资源。本项目重点研究了消化酶酸性哺乳动物几丁质酶和胃蛋白酶A作为新世界灵长类动物对食虫性的潜在适应性，这些灵长类动物具有高度的食虫性和多样化的饮食生态。利用DNA样本，研究者将对platyrrhine物种进行广泛的比较调查，以解决以下问题：(1)是否所有platyrrhines都具有几丁质水解酶的功能基因序列，而不考虑饮食？(2)与食虫和吸血蝙蝠相比，食虫和非食虫鸭嘴兽消化酶基因的趋同模式是什么？(3)几丁质酶基因（CHIA）是否在更多食虫物种中以更高的拷贝数出现？(4)蛋白水解消化酶胃蛋白酶A （PGA）基因拷贝数是否较高？了解了在新大陆猴子身上发现的消化酶和相关的基因变异，就可以与其他现存的灵长类动物群体进行比较，比如旧大陆猴子、猿和人类，以及其他食虫哺乳动物。

Insects are a critical component of many primate diets, and are thought to have played an important role in the evolution of the primate family. The physiological adaptations that underpin insectivory are not well understood, and this dissertation research project will study internal dietary adaptations, such as digestive enzymes, that primates use to digest this important food resource. The research findings will provide insight into the evolution of dietary ecologies, niche separation, and specialization of primate species. The project will support academic training and mentoring of female and underrepresented minority students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The undergraduate student will have the opportunity to develop and conduct their own research project and present their findings at the Rutgers Undergraduate Research Symposium. An online educational module explaining dietary adaptations to elementary school students will be developed and distributed at no cost. This teaching resource will incorporate results of this study, as well as information about anthropological fieldwork, and is intended to foster an interest in science and human evolution in K-12 students.Insect consumption is widespread across human and non-human primates, and is thought to have been a driving force in primate evolution, selecting for the primate visual system and other morphological features. Insects, especially termites, may have been a key resource for early hominins. This project focuses on the digestive enzymes acidic mammalian chitinase and pepsin A as potential adaptations for insectivory in New World primates, which exhibit a high degree of insectivory and a diverse array of dietary ecologies. Using DNA samples, the investigator will conduct a broad, comparative survey of platyrrhine species to address the following questions: (1) Do all platyrrhines share a functional gene sequence for a chitinolytic enzyme, regardless of diet? (2) What are the patterns of convergence in digestive enzyme genes of insectivorous and non-insectivorous platyrrhines compared to insectivorous and sanguivorous bats? (3) Does the chitinase gene (CHIA) occur in greater copy numbers in more insectivorous species? And (4) does the proteolytic digestive enzyme pepsin A (PGA) have higher gene copy numbers in platyrrhine species with high-protein diets? Having an understanding of the digestive enzymes and relevant genetic variation found in New World monkeys will allow comparisons with other extant primate groups, such as Old World monkeys, apes, and humans, as well as other insectivorous mammals.