NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Bridging genomics, physiology, and behavioral ecology to uncover mechanisms driving incipient speciation in an island bird

这项行动资助了2020财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，综合研究调查了基因组，环境和表型之间的生命相互作用的规则。该研究金支持研究员的研究和培训，以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。将行为和生理学研究与基因组数据相结合，这项研究将增强对孤立栖息地中出现的新物种的理解。该项目的重点是一群只在南太平洋的所罗门群岛发现的鸟类，帝王蝇。在群岛中较小的岛屿上，先前的研究发现，从栗色祖先那里重复进化出了全黑色（黑色素）。在大多数发生这种情况的种群中，所有的鸟类现在都是黑色的，只与其他黑色个体交配，导致一个新的物种。岛屿之间颜色差异的原因尚不清楚。为了确定黑色进化的潜在原因，该研究员将研究一个岛上的种群，其中黑褐色和栗色的鸟类仍然存在并相互交配。这将提供深入了解驱动新特征进化和物种起源的过程。了解行为、生理学和遗传学如何相互作用影响物种进化，将有助于欣赏和保护世界上令人瞩目的生物多样性。为了扩大该项目的影响，将为高中学生设计一个关于物种如何进化的案例研究。了解视觉信号在早期物种形成的背景下如何以及为什么变化，对于识别种群分化的驱动因素至关重要。在人口多态性两个不同的视觉信号-黑和栗色-该项目测试三个替代假设解释重复进化的黑在君主进化枝。黑素症可能是由于黑皮质素系统的多效性作用以及与睾酮和/或攻击性的关联而受到间接选择。或者，与同种的相互作用和竞争可能会推动社会选择的黑化。最后，黑化可能是通过小种群和最小的负多效性通过遗传漂变而产生的。测试这些假设的预测涉及三个目标：（1）通过坐骑展示实验确定羽毛颜色对攻击行为的影响;（2）使用全基因组重测序数据表征介导黑变病的进化过程和遗传结构;（3）测量黑素细胞刺激激素和睾酮在黑素，栗色和羽毛操纵的鸟类中。该研究员将受益于将全基因组分析与表型，行为和生理反应相结合的深入经验。此外，这项研究将在一个案例研究，旨在教育高中学生有关物种形成，趋同进化，和科学过程的特色。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得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的支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Combining studies of behavior and physiology with genomic data, the research will enhance understanding about new species arising in isolated habitats. The project focuses on a group of birds, Monarcha flycatchers, found only in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. On the smaller islands of the archipelago, previous research uncovered repeated evolution of all black (melanic) coloration from chestnut colored ancestors. In most populations where this occurred, all birds are now melanic and mate only with other melanic individuals, resulting in a new species. The reasons for color differences across islands are unknown. To determine what is underlying the evolution of black coloration, the fellow will study an island population in which both melanic and chestnut colored birds still exist and mate with each other. This will provide insight into processes that drive evolution of novel traits and the origin of species. Knowing how behavior, physiology, and genetics interact to influence species evolution will facilitate appreciation and preservation of the world’s remarkable biodiversity. To broaden the impact of the project, a case study will be designed for high school students about how species evolve. Understanding how and why visual signals change in the context of incipient speciation is crucial to discerning drivers of population divergence. In a population polymorphic for two distinct visual signals – melanic and chestnut coloration – this project tests three alternative hypotheses explaining repeated evolution of melanism in the Monarcha clade. Melanism may be under indirect selection due to pleiotropic effects of the melanocortin system, and associations with testosterone and/or aggression. Alternatively, interaction and competition with conspecifics may drive social selection for melanism. Finally, melanism may arise through genetic drift via small populations and minimal negative pleiotropy. Testing predictions of these hypotheses involves three aims: (1) determine effects of plumage color on aggressive behavior through mount presentation experiments; (2) characterize the evolutionary processes mediating and genetic architecture underlying melanism using whole-genome resequencing data; and (3) measure alpha-Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone and testosterone in melanic, chestnut, and plumage-manipulated birds. The fellow will benefit from in-depth experience integrating whole-genome analyses with phenotypic, behavioral, and physiological responses. In addition, this study will be featured in a case study designed to educate high school students about speciation, convergent evolution, and the scientific process.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.