DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Female ornamentation in the White-shouldered Fairywren: Proximate mechanisms and adaptive function

论文研究：白肩细尾鹩莺的雌性纹饰：近端机制和适应功能

• 批准号: 1701781
• 负责人: Jordan Karubian
• 金额: $ 1.95万
• 依托单位: Tulane University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-04-01 至 2019-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1701781&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Female; ornamentation; White

Showy traits, or ornaments, have long captured the imagination of naturalists and evolutionary biologists. One theory of selection provides a robust explanation for variation in male coloration, or ornamentation, through the process of females choosing increasingly elaborate males over numerous generations. In contrast, the evolution of female ornamental coloration has received comparatively little attention, and is not intuitively explained using current theory. The White-shouldered Fairywren (Malurus alboscapulatus) of New Guinea is an unusual species of bird in which female coloration varies across populations, while male plumage remains constant. Experimental evidence suggests that more ornamented coloration in females is associated with heightened aggression and increased levels of testosterone. However, the connection between behavior and the underlying process that has led to the appearance of female ornamentation in this species remain unclear. This research aims to determine what genes are responsible in male and female fairywrens for producing ornamentation. The research addresses a core goal in evolutionary biology in identifying the underlying mechanisms that are responsible for generating specific appearances, but from a uniquely female-perspective approach. Understanding the processes involved in generating patterns of biodiversity will be communicated to local communities at our study sites in New Guinea and to local school aged children in New Orleans. A contemporary goal of evolutionary biology is to understand the genomic changes that control phenotypic variation and how genomic variation generates diversity in traits. The investigators will use high throughput sequencing techniques to explore the underlying genetic control of plumage variation in the White-shouldered Fairywren. They have two complementary goals: to use whole genome resequencing to identify regions of the genome that may be under selection and to use RNA sequencing to test for differences in gene expression between distinct female phenotypes. The study will advance the understanding of the evolution of sex-specific coloration by testing hypotheses for how changes in female ornaments may arise on a mechanistic level, which can then be contextualized with data the researchers have gathered on current adaptive function of the trait. The strength of this system is that it presents an opportunity to compare variation in female ornaments, rather than the more commonly observed and better studied variation in male traits. Female ornaments are influenced not only by selective forces acting on the traits, but also by the genetic mechanisms that produce the phenotype. The proposed genetic work will build on prior research in this species to provide a broad understanding of the evolution and function of female ornamentation that integrates field observation, experimental manipulation, and laboratory techniques. In doing so, the research is expected to provide a comprehensive understanding of both the proximate basis for and ultimate consequences of elaborate female coloration.

炫耀的特征，或者说装饰，长久以来一直吸引着自然学家和进化生物学家的想象力。有一种选择理论，通过雌性在多代中选择越来越精致的雄性的过程，为雄性颜色的变化提供了一个强有力的解释。相比之下，女性装饰色彩的演变得到了相对较少的关注，并没有直观地解释使用当前的理论。新几内亚的白肩细尾鹩莺（Malurus alboscapulatus）是一种不寻常的鸟类，雌性的颜色在种群中有所不同，而雄性的羽毛保持不变。实验证据表明，雌性动物更明显的颜色与更高的攻击性和睾丸激素水平有关。然而，行为和导致该物种出现雌性生殖的潜在过程之间的联系仍然不清楚。这项研究的目的是确定雄性和雌性细尾鹩莺中负责产生分泌的基因。这项研究解决了进化生物学的一个核心目标，即确定负责产生特定外观的潜在机制，但从独特的女性视角出发。了解生物多样性产生模式所涉及的过程将传达给我们在新几内亚的研究地点的当地社区和新奥尔良当地学龄儿童。 进化生物学的当代目标是了解控制表型变异的基因组变化以及基因组变异如何产生性状的多样性。研究人员将使用高通量测序技术来探索白肩细尾鹩羽毛变异的潜在遗传控制。他们有两个互补的目标：使用全基因组重测序来识别可能处于选择下的基因组区域，并使用RNA测序来测试不同女性表型之间的基因表达差异。这项研究将通过测试女性装饰物如何在机械水平上发生变化的假设来促进对性别特异性着色进化的理解，然后可以将研究人员收集的关于该特征当前适应功能的数据与之结合起来。这个系统的优势在于，它提供了一个比较女性装饰差异的机会，而不是更常见的男性特征的观察和更好的研究。女性的装饰不仅受到作用于特征的选择力的影响，而且还受到产生表型的遗传机制的影响。拟议的遗传学工作将建立在该物种的先前研究基础上，以提供对雌性生殖的进化和功能的广泛理解，该研究整合了实地观察，实验操作和实验室技术。在这样做的过程中，这项研究预计将提供一个全面的了解，既近的基础和最终的后果，精心制作的女性着色。

项目成果

Female ornamentation is associated with elevated aggression and testosterone in a tropical songbird

• DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ary079
• 发表时间: 2018-09-01
• 期刊: BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
• 影响因子: 2.4
• 作者: Enbody, Erik D.;Boersma, Jordan;Karubian, Jordan
• 通讯作者: Karubian, Jordan