ANT LIA: Collaborative Research: Evolutionary Patterns and Mechanisms of Trait Diversification in the Antarctic Notothenioid Radiation

ANT LIA：合作研究：南极诺托尼类辐射特征多样化的进化模式和机制

• 批准号: 2001584
• 负责人: Matthew Harris
• 金额: $ 14.5万
• 依托单位: Children's Hospital Corporation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-08-01 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2001584&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: ANT; LIA; Collaborative; Research; Evolutionary

Part I: Nontechnical descriptionThe ecologically important notothenioid fish of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica will be studied to address questions central to polar, evolutionary, and adaptational biology. The rapid diversification of the notothenioids into 120 species following a period of Antarctic glaciation and cooling of the Southern Ocean is thought to have been facilitated by key evolutionary innovations, including antifreeze glycoproteins to prevent freezing and bone reduction to increase buoyancy. In this project, a large dataset of genomic sequences will be used to evaluate the genetic mechanisms that underly the broad pattern of novel trait evolution in these fish, including traits relevant to human diseases (e.g., bone density, renal function, and anemia). The team will develop new STEM-based research and teaching modules for undergraduate education at Northeastern University. The work will provide specific research training to scholars at all levels, including a post-doctoral researcher, a graduate student, undergraduate students, and high school students. The team will also contribute to public outreach, including, in part, the develop of teaching videos in molecular evolutionary biology and accompanying educational supplements.Part II: Technical descriptionThe researchers will leverage their comprehensive notothenioid phylogenomic dataset comprising 250,000 protein-coding exons and conserved non-coding elements across 44 ingroup and 2 outgroup species to analyze the genetic origins of three iconic notothenioid traits: (1) loss of erythrocytes by the icefish clade in a cold, stable and highly-oxygenated marine environment; (2) reduction in bone mass and retention of juvenile skeletal characteristics as buoyancy mechanisms to facilitate foraging; and (3) loss of kidney glomeruli to retain energetically expensive antifreeze glycoproteins. The team will first track patterns of change in erythroid-related genes throughout the notothenioid phylogeny. They will then examine whether repetitive evolution of a pedomorphic skeleton in notothenioids is based on parallel or divergent evolution of genetic regulators of heterochrony. Third, they will determine whether there is mutational bias in the mechanisms of loss and re-emergence of kidney glomeruli. Finally, identified genetic mechanisms of evolutionary change will be validated by experimental testing using functional genomic strategies in the zebrafish model system.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.

第一部分：非技术性的警告南极周围的南大洋的生态重要的notothenioid鱼将被研究，以解决极地，进化和适应生物学的核心问题。在南极冰川作用和南大洋冷却之后，南极鱼迅速多样化为120种，这被认为是由关键的进化创新所促进的，包括防冻糖蛋白以防止冻结和骨骼减少以增加浮力。在该项目中，将使用大量基因组序列数据集来评估这些鱼类新性状进化广泛模式的遗传机制，包括与人类疾病相关的性状（例如，骨密度、肾功能和贫血）。该团队将为东北大学的本科教育开发新的基于STEM的研究和教学模块。这项工作将为各级学者提供具体的研究培训，包括博士后研究员，研究生，本科生和高中生。该小组还将协助开展公共宣传，包括制作分子进化生物学教学录像和相应的教育补充材料。技术支持研究人员将利用他们的综合性南极海生动物基因组数据集，包括250，000个蛋白质编码外显子和保守的非44个内群和2个外群物种的编码元件，以分析三个标志性的背鳍鱼特征的遗传起源：（1）在寒冷、稳定和高含氧的海洋环境中，冰鱼分支的红细胞损失;（2）骨量减少，幼鱼骨骼特征保留，这是浮力机制，便于觅食;以及（3）肾小球丧失以保留能量昂贵的抗冻糖蛋白。研究小组将首先跟踪整个背绦虫发育过程中红细胞相关基因的变化模式。然后，他们将研究是否重复的pedomorphic骨骼在notothenioids是基于平行或不同的进化的遗传调节基因的异时性。第三，他们将确定肾小球丢失和重新出现的机制中是否存在突变偏倚。最后，通过在斑马鱼模型系统中使用功能基因组策略的实验测试，将验证进化变化的遗传机制。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。