Collaborative Research: Functional genomics of plumage ornaments in a warbler

合作研究：莺羽毛装饰的功能基因组学

• 批准号: 1749044
• 负责人: Peter Dunn
• 金额: $ 37.5万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-04-15 至 2022-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1749044&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Functional; genomics; plumage

One of the grand challenges in animal biology is to understand the influence of genes on the development of phenotypic and behavioral traits. The plumage of birds encompasses a spectacular array of ornamental plumages long appreciated for their beauty, yet we know little about how the color of plumage patches or their size is influenced by genes. It is generally thought that the plumage color of male birds is a signal of quality to females choosing mates. Several hypotheses have now been proposed linking the size and color of plumage ornaments to various physiological and genetic pathways related to health, including those involved in cellular metabolism, growth, oxidative stress and immunity. Any one pathway could provide a general explanation for how bird colors signal quality in males, but these genetic pathways may interact in complex ways that can only be understood using genome-wide analysis techniques. Here the researchers plan to examine these pathways using next generation gene sequencing of the genome of a brightly colored warbler. The types of pigments in this bird (black colored melanin and yellow colored carotenoids) are widespread across species and, thus, will provide a general model for many researchers studying the development of colorful ornaments. As part of the project the researchers will conduct workshops on genomics at local colleges, at an international behavior meeting and, in Belize, for a local zoo and local conservationists.This study will use genomic analyses to test several recent hypotheses for the genetic basis of ornament expression in a warbler, the common yellowthroat. This warbler is one of a few species of birds in which females are known to choose mates based on ornamental traits that are associated with indices of fitness. Interestingly, sexual selection targets different ornaments in different populations of the common yellowthroat. In Wisconsin, females prefer males with larger black masks, whereas in New York females prefer males with larger, more colorful yellow bibs. The investigators have already shown that mask size in Wisconsin and bib color in New York are honest signals of similar aspects of male quality in each population. Based on these results, the investigators plan to use a genomics approach to determine if: 1) elaborate ornaments are related to the expression of genes in growth, immunity and oxidative stress pathways, as predicted by recent hypotheses, and 2) if these traits exhibit molecular parallelism where the same genetic pathways are most closely associated with the ornament preferred by females in each location. To maximize the probability of finding differences and to expand the tests of parallelism, the study will also incorporate geographic comparisons with other subspecies and a closely-related species in Belize, which have larger differences in ornament size and color.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

动物生物学的重大挑战之一是了解基因对表型和行为特征发展的影响。鸟类的羽毛包含一系列壮观的观赏羽毛，长期以来因其美丽而受到赞赏，但我们对羽毛斑块的颜色或其大小如何受到基因的影响知之甚少。人们普遍认为，雄鸟的羽毛颜色是雌鸟选择配偶的品质标志。现在已经提出了几种假设，将羽毛装饰的大小和颜色与与健康相关的各种生理和遗传途径联系起来，包括那些涉及细胞代谢、生长、氧化应激和免疫的途径。任何一种途径都可以为鸟类颜色如何表示雄性的质量提供一般性解释，但这些遗传途径可能以复杂的方式相互作用，只能使用全基因组分析技术来理解。研究人员计划利用色彩鲜艳的莺基因组的下一代基因测序来检查这些途径。这种鸟的色素类型（黑色黑色素和黄色类胡萝卜素）在各个物种中广泛存在，因此将为许多研究彩色装饰品发展的研究人员提供一个通用模型。 作为该项目的一部分，研究人员将在当地大学、国际行为会议以及伯利兹为当地动物园和当地自然资源保护者举办基因组学研讨会。这项研究将利用基因组分析来测试最近关于莺（常见的黄喉鸟）装饰表达遗传基础的几个假设。这种莺是少数几种雌鸟会根据与健康指数相关的观赏性状来选择配偶的鸟类之一。有趣的是，性选择针对普通黄喉鸟不同种群的不同装饰物。在威斯康星州，女性更喜欢带有较大黑色面具的男性，而在纽约，女性则更喜欢带有更大、颜色更丰富的黄色围兜的男性。研究人员已经表明，威斯康星州的口罩尺寸和纽约的围脖颜色是每个人群中男性素质相似方面的真实信号。基于这些结果，研究人员计划使用基因组学方法来确定：1）精致的装饰品是否与生长、免疫和氧化应激途径中的基因表达有关，正如最近的假设所预测的那样；2）这些性状是否表现出分子平行性，即相同的遗传途径与每个地点的女性偏好的装饰品最密切相关。为了最大限度地提高发现差异的可能性并扩大平行性测试，该研究还将纳入与伯利兹其他亚种和密切相关物种的地理比较，这些亚种和伯利兹的一个密切相关的物种在装饰尺寸和颜色方面存在较大差异。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。