Collaborative Research: Functional genomics of plumage ornaments in a warbler

动物生物学的一个重大挑战是了解基因对表型和行为特征发展的影响。鸟类的羽毛包括一系列壮观的装饰性羽毛，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择偶质量的信号。现在已经提出了几种假设，将羽毛装饰物的大小和颜色与各种与健康相关的生理和遗传途径联系起来，包括与细胞代谢、生长、氧化应激和免疫有关的生理和遗传途径。任何一种途径都可以为鸟类颜色在雄性身上的信号质量提供一般的解释，但是这些遗传途径可能以复杂的方式相互作用，只能通过全基因组分析技术来理解。在这里，研究人员计划使用下一代颜色鲜艳的莺的基因组基因测序来检查这些途径。这种鸟的色素类型（黑色的黑色素和黄色的类胡萝卜素）在物种中广泛存在，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环保人士举办基因组学研讨会。这项研究将使用基因组分析来测试最近关于黄喉莺（一种常见的莺）装饰表达的遗传基础的几个假设。这种莺是为数不多的几种鸟类之一，雌性鸟类根据与健康指数相关的观赏特征来选择配偶。有趣的是，在普通黄喉鱼的不同种群中，性选择的目标是不同的装饰物。在威斯康辛州，女性更喜欢戴着更大的黑色面具的男性，而在纽约，女性更喜欢戴着更大、更鲜艳的黄色围嘴的男性。研究人员已经证明，威斯康辛州的口罩大小和纽约的围兜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)精心制作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)这些特征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爱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的测试，该研究还将与伯利兹的其他亚种和一种密切相关的物种进行地理比较，这些物种在装饰大小和颜色上存在较大差异。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.