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

昆虫是许多灵长类食物的关键成分，被认为在灵长类家族的进化中发挥了重要作用。支持昆虫的生理适应还不是很清楚，本论文的研究项目将研究灵长类内部的饮食适应，如消化酶，用于消化这一重要的食物资源。研究结果将为深入了解食物生态的演变、生态位分离和灵长类物种的专门化提供洞察。该项目将支持在本科生和研究生阶段对女性和代表性不足的少数族裔学生进行学术培训和辅导。本科生将有机会开发和实施他们自己的研究项目，并在罗格斯大学本科生研究研讨会上展示他们的发现。一个向小学生解释饮食适应的在线教育模块将被开发并免费分发。这一教学资源将包括这项研究的结果，以及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。物种消耗在人类和非人类灵长类动物中广泛存在，被认为是灵长类进化的驱动力，选择灵长类视觉系统和其他形态特征。昆虫，尤其是白蚁，可能是早期原始人的关键资源。本项目的重点是消化酶，酸性哺乳动物几丁质酶和胃蛋白酶A，作为潜在的适应昆虫在新大陆灵长类动物，这显示出高度的杀虫性和多样化的饮食生态。利用DNA样本，研究人员将对不同种类的白颈鹿进行广泛的比较调查，以解决以下问题：(1)无论饮食如何，所有白颈鹿都共享几丁质分解酶的功能基因序列？(2)与食虫和食血蝙蝠相比，食虫和非食虫白颈鹿的消化酶基因有什么趋同模式？(3)几丁质酶基因(Chia)是否在更多的食虫物种中出现更多的拷贝数？以及(4)蛋白水解酶胃蛋白酶A(PGA)在高蛋白饮食的白垩鱼物种中是否具有更高的基因拷贝数？了解在新大陆猴子身上发现的消化酶和相关的遗传变异，将有助于与其他现存的灵长类动物，如东半球猴子、猿类和人类，以及其他食虫哺乳动物进行比较。

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.