The Genetics and Neural Mechanisms of Preference Learning

选择配偶是动物一生中最重要的决定之一，因为配偶选择对后代的数量、后代的基因型和后代的成功有很大的影响。由于这些原因，择偶过程在科学研究中占有重要地位，并被用作加强对感觉加工、行为可塑性、决策和生殖隔离的理解的支架。与择偶过程相关的择偶偏好可以是后天习得的，也可以是先天遗传决定的。习得性偏好在动物类群中很普遍，但仍知之甚少：驱动它们的神经机制和这些过程背后的基因都还没有确定。然而，最近对蝴蝶Bcyclus anynana基因组的描述有助于识别支持偏好学习的基因和神经机制。利用这只蝴蝶，研究人员已经确定了一套与偏好学习相关的基因。研究人员将利用基因组编辑来确定这些基因中的哪些会影响偏好学习。然后，他们将评估感觉处理如何影响偏好学习，从而将基因、神经过程和择偶行为联系起来。为了增进公众对视觉交流的理解，同时提高对当地传粉者群体的认识，研究人员将利用蝴蝶的魅力性质，让数百名各个年龄段的学生参与一个公民科学研究项目。该项目与当地一个非营利性植物园合作，研究了阿肯色州西北部蝴蝶群落的季节性和行为，并将为未来传粉者群落健康的研究提供基线。由于学习错误率高的可能性，习得的配偶偏好在历史上被认为比基因决定的配偶偏好要少得多，特别是在没有父母照顾的物种中，在发育过程中，不能保证年轻人经常接触同类物种。然而，最近的研究表明，习得的偏好比之前想象的要普遍得多。基因决定的学习偏差将减少学习错误率，并可能有助于解释为什么动物中普遍存在配偶偏好学习。然而，这一假设还有待验证，因为配偶偏好学习的基因以及配偶偏好学习背后的神经机制尚未确定。在这个项目中，研究人员将利用一种综合的方法，结合基因组编辑、转录学、行为操纵和电生理学来识别配偶偏好学习基因，描述这些基因在配偶偏好学习过程中的作用，并以蝴蝶Bcyclus anynana为例，识别与正面和负面记忆形成相关的神经通路。这项研究将填补在配偶偏好发展方面的知识空白，并将促进未来关于行为可塑性、感觉偏差的遗传学以及关于学习在装饰多样性和物种形成中的作用的进化理论的研究。此外，研究人员将与当地的一个非营利性植物园合作，让公众参与一个基于实地的公民科学研究项目，研究当地蝴蝶群落的季节性以及感觉环境对其的影响。该项目将吸引数百名社区成员参与视觉交流的研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Picking a mate is one of the most important decisions an animal makes during its lifetime, as mate selection has a large impact on the number of offspring, offspring genotype, and offspring success. For these reasons the mate selection process has featured prominently in scientific research, and has been used as a scaffold for enhancing understanding of sensory processing, behavioral plasticity, decision making, and reproductive isolation. Mate preferences associated with the mate selection process can either be learned, or innate and genetically determined. Learned preferences are prevalent in animal taxa yet remain poorly understood: neither neurological mechanisms driving them nor genes underlying these processes have been identified. However, recent description of the genome of the butterfly Bicyclus anynana is facilitating the identification of genes and neural mechanisms underlying preference learning. Using this butterfly, the researcher has identified a suite of genes associated with preference learning. The researcher will utilize genome editing to determine which of these genes influence preference learning. They will then assess how sensory processing influences preference learning, thus connecting genes, neural processes, and mate selection behavior. To enhance public understanding of visual communication while raising awareness of the local pollinator community, the researcher will utilize the charismatic nature of butterflies to engage hundreds of students of all ages in a Citizen Science Research project. This project examines the seasonality and behavior of the butterfly community of Northwest Arkansas in collaboration with a local non-profit botanical garden, and will provide a baseline for future research on pollinator community health. Due to the potential for high learning error rates, learned mate preferences were historically thought to be substantially less common than genetically determined mate preferences, particularly in species without parental care, where young are not guaranteed regular contact with conspecifics during development. However, recent research has shown that learned preferences are far more common than previously thought. Genetically determined learning biases would reduce learning error rates, and may help explain the prevalence of mate preference learning in animals. However, this hypothesis has yet to be tested, as genes for mate preference learning, and the neurological mechanisms underlying mate preference learning, have yet to be identified. In this project, the researcher will utilize an integrative approach combining genome editing, transcriptomics, behavioral manipulation, and electrophysiology to identify mate preference learning genes, describe the role of these genes in the mate preference learning process, and identify the neural pathways associated with positive and negative memory formation, using the butterfly Bicyclus anynana. This research will fill gaps in knowledge of mate preference development, and will facilitate future research on behavioral plasticity, genetics of sensory biases, and evolutionary theory concerning the role of learning in ornament diversity and speciation. Furthermore, the researcher will collaborate with a local non-profit botanical garden to engage the public in a field-based Citizen Science Research project examining the seasonality of, and the effect of the sensory environment on, the local butterfly community. This project will engage hundreds of community members in the study of visual communication.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.