The Genetics and Neural Mechanisms of Preference Learning

偏好学习的遗传学和神经机制

• 批准号: 1937201
• 负责人: Erica Westerman
• 金额: $ 80.11万
• 依托单位: University of Arkansas
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-03-01 至 2025-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1937201&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Genetics; Neural; Mechanisms; Preference; Learning

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.

选择伴侣是动物一生中最重要的决定之一，因为伴侣的选择对后代，后代基因型和后代成功的数量产生了很大的影响。由于这些原因，伴侣选择过程在科学研究中突出了，并已被用作增强对感觉处理，行为可塑性，决策和生殖隔离的理解的脚手架。可以学习与伴侣选择过程相关的伴侣偏好，或者先天和遗传确定。学到的偏好在动物分类单元中很普遍，但仍未理解：驾驶它们的神经系统机制均未发现这些过程的基因。但是，最近对蝴蝶自行车的基因组Anynana的基因组有助于鉴定基因和偏好学习的神经机制。使用此蝴蝶，研究人员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哪些基因影响偏好学习。然后，他们将评估感官处理如何影响偏好学习，从而连接基因，神经过程和伴侣选择行为。为了在提高对当地传粉媒介社区的认识的同时，增进公众对视觉交流的理解，研究人员将利用蝴蝶的魅力性，使数百名所有年龄段的学生参与公民科学研究项目。该项目研究了阿肯色州西北部蝴蝶界与当地非营利性植物园合作的季节性和行为，并将为未来关于传粉媒介社区健康的研究提供基准。 由于潜在的学习错误率，历史上认为学习的伴侣偏好比遗传确定的伴侣偏好的普遍性要少得多，尤其是在没有父母护理的物种中，在开发过程中不能保证与年轻人定期与同种特异性接触。但是，最近的研究表明，学到的偏好比以前想象的要普遍得多。遗传确定的学习偏见将降低学习错误率，并可能有助于解释动物伴侣偏好学习的流行。但是，作为伴侣偏好学习的基因以及伴侣偏好学习的基因，该假设尚未得到检验。在该项目中，研究人员将采用一种结合基因组编辑，转录组学，行为操纵和电生理学的综合方法来识别伴侣偏好学习基因，描述这些基因在伴侣偏好学习过程中的作用，并使用蝴蝶butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfy butterfly bilynana，并识别与正面和负记忆相关的神经途径。这项研究将填补伴侣偏好发展知识的差距，并促进对行为可塑性，感官偏见的遗传学以及有关学习在装饰多样性和物种形成中的作用的进化论的未来研究。此外，研究人员将与当地的非营利植物园合作，参与公众参与一个基于现场的公民科学研究项目，研究了当地蝴蝶界的季节性以及感觉环境对当地蝴蝶社区的影响。该项目将吸引数百名社区成员进行视觉交流研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的评论标准来评估的。

项目成果

Cryptic Mate Preference in Male Bicyclus anynana Butterflies

• DOI: 10.1007/s10905-023-09814-x
• 发表时间: 2023-01-10
• 期刊: JOURNAL OF INSECT BEHAVIOR
• 影响因子: 1
• 作者: Siebenmorgen，Jacob P. P.;Tibbs，Taryn L. L.;Westerman，Erica L. L.
• 通讯作者: Westerman，Erica L. L.

Engaging the Community in Pollinator Research: The Effect of Wing Pattern and Weather on Butterfly Behavior

让社区参与传粉媒介研究：翅膀图案和天气对蝴蝶行为的影响

• DOI: 10.1093/icb/icab153
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Integrative and Comparative Biology
• 影响因子: 2.6
• 作者: Merrill, Abbigail N;Hirzel, Grace E;Murphy, Matthew J;Imrie, Roslyn G;Westerman, Erica L
• 通讯作者: Westerman, Erica L