OPUS: MCS: Using modern methods with historical museum specimens to elucidate the evolution of a widespread, ecologically important rodent species

北美鹿鼠是北美分布最广、种类最多的啮齿类动物之一。这种啮齿动物具有极大的公共卫生利益，因为它是各种可传播给人类的致病微生物的储藏库，如汉坦病毒和莱姆病。有大量证据表明，在目前所知的人参体内可能存在几个不同的物种。鉴于这种小鼠作为疾病宿主的重要性，以及作为许多不同类型生物学研究的模型系统的重要性，了解这一群体中有多少物种，这些物种发生在哪里，以及它们在疾病传播和其他生物过程中的作用是很重要的。该项目分析了自然历史标本的形态和遗传学，以检查北美地区马尾松的形态和遗传变异，以发现和描述新物种。这项研究的结果可能会发现，只有某些物种是特定疾病的宿主，并不是所有的物种都适合作为某些生物学研究的模式系统。由于该物种在许多生物学领域的重要性，该项目的更广泛影响很容易扩展到公共教育。研究人员将与美国国家科学基金会资助的本科生物多样性扫盲和地方教育倡议合作，开发教育模块，并将其传播到全国各地的课堂。这些模块将基于松材线虫的分布、多样性、生态、疾病储藏潜力以及对健康和疾病的文化和生物影响。这些模块将允许学生使用自然历史收集的数据来生成研究问题，这将促进对科学过程的理解，并使学生了解自然历史收集在基础科学中的重要性。尽管海龙一直是进化生物学、行为学和生态学中多个主题的模型系统，但有证据表明，这种广泛存在的物种可能存在神秘的谱系。鉴于松材线虫作为疾病宿主和许多学科研究的模式系统的重要性，必须了解该物种内的地理变异，以及它包含未被识别的神秘物种的程度。该项目将分析形态，包括显微CT扫描，以及来自自然历史博物馆标本的基因组数据(促进这些宝贵资源的实用性和重要性)。基因组和形态数据的综合分析将被用来确定黑线姬鼠复合体内的物种谱系。这一项目的研究结果将对在疾病生态学和其他研究中使用松材线虫作为模式系统具有重要意义。这一奖项反映了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。

The North American deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) is one of the most widespread and variable rodent species in North America. This rodent is of great public health interest because it serves as a reservoir for a variety of disease-causing organisms that can be transmitted to humans, such as hantaviruses and Lyme disease. There is substantial evidence that there may be several different species within what is currently known as P. maniculatus. Given the importance of this mouse as a disease reservoir, and as a model system for many different kinds of biological studies, it is important to know how many species there are within this group, where these species occur, and their role in disease transmission and other biological processes. This project analyzes the morphology and genetics of specimens from natural history collections to examine morphological and genetic variation within P. maniculatus across North America to discover and describe new species. Findings from this research may uncover that only certain P. maniculatus species are reservoirs for particular diseases and that not all species may be appropriate as model systems for some biological studies. Due to the importance of this species in many biological fields, the broader impacts of this project easily extend to public education. The researchers will partner with the NSF-funded Biodiversity Literacy in Undergraduate Education and local education initiatives to develop education modules that will be disseminated to classrooms nationwide. The modules will be based on the distribution, diversity, ecology, disease reservoir potential, and cultural and biological influences on health and disease of P. maniculatus. The modules will allow students to generate research questions using data from natural history collections, which will foster understanding of the scientific process and expose students to the importance of natural history collections in fundamental science.Although P. maniculatus has been a model system for multiple topics in evolutionary biology, behavior and ecology, there is evidence that there may be cryptic lineages within this widespread species. Given the importance of P. maniculatus as a disease reservoir and as a model system for studies in many disciplines, it is imperative to understand the geographic variation within this species, and the extent to which it encompasses unrecognized cryptic species. This project will analyze morphology, including micro-CT scans, and genomic data derived from specimens housed in natural history museums (promoting the utility and importance of these invaluable resources). Combined analysis of genomic and morphological data will be used to identify species lineages within the P. maniculatus complex. Findings from this project will have important implications for using P. maniculatus as a model system in disease ecology and other studies.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.