DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Correlated diversification of a male trait and associated female perception

进化中一个长期存在的问题是，强烈的配偶竞争和配偶选择是否影响物种的进化。这个问题仍然没有得到解决，因为物种在很长的时间尺度上积累，而且以前的研究揭示了模棱两可的结果。与跨物种的研究相比，跨种群的研究显示了配偶选择与快速进化之间的明确联系，并显示了雄性交配信号与相关雌性偏好之间的相关性。文献中缺失的是一项研究，该研究在物种水平的背景下测试了这些种群水平的发现，特别是一项将雄性交配信号和雌性感知的差异联系起来的研究。如果雌性感知的变化与雄性信号的变化相适应，该项目将支持一个新的发现：在不同物种之间，类似的机制也在起作用。这也表明，性信号可能受到女性生理的限制，而女性生理的变化会导致男性信号多样性的变化。本项目成果将在国际会议上发表，本科生将积极参与本研究，本项目成果将有助于开发新型生物医学报告酶，产生不同颜色的生物发光。生物发光，发出交配信号的介形虫甲壳类动物提供了一种独特的系统来了解性信号与它们的预期接受者的密切程度。研究人员将首先测量从加勒比海收集的26种介形虫甲壳类动物的雄性生物发光光谱。接下来，他们将使用一种视觉生理学技术来测量来自10个物种的雌性感知光谱，这种技术可以通过眼睛中的单个感光细胞来确定特定波长的光的吸收。然后，研究人员将确定男性性特征光谱（生物发光的颜色）和女性感知光谱的重叠量。如果群体遗传理论成立，偏好是由感知决定的，我们预计男性信号和女性生理之间会发生共变。

A long-standing question in evolution is whether strong mate competition and mate selection influences the evolution of species. This question remains unresolved because species accumulate over deep timescales, and previous studies have revealed ambiguous results. In contrast to studies across species, studies across populations show clear links between mate selection and rapid evolution, and show correlations between male mating signals and the associated female preferences. Missing in the literature is a study that tests these population-level findings in a species-level context, specifically, one that correlates differentiation in male mating signals and female perception. If changes in female perception are met with changes in male signal, the project will support a novel finding: that similar mechanisms are at work across species as across populations. This also suggests that sexual signals may be constrained by female physiology, and that changes in female physiology allow for changes in male signal diversity. Results from this project will be disseminated at international meetings, undergraduates will be actively involved in this research, and outcomes of this project will contribute to the development of novel biomedical reporter enzymes that create different colors of bioluminescence. Bioluminescent, mate-signaling ostracod crustaceans offer a unique system to understand how closely sexual signals associate with their intended receivers. The researchers will first measure bioluminescent emission spectra from males of 26 species of ostracod crustaceans collected from the Caribbean Sea. Next, they will measure female perceptual spectra from 10 species using a visual physiology technique that determines the absorption of specific wavelengths of light through single photoreceptor cells in the eye. The researchers will then determine the amount of overlap of male sexual trait spectra (the color of the bioluminescence) and the female perceptual spectra. If population genetic theory holds, and preference is determined by perception, we expect covariation between male signals and female physiology.