Doctoral Dissertation Research: The phenotypic consequences of adaptive introgression in naturally hybridizing primates

博士论文研究：自然杂交灵长类动物适应性渐渗的表型后果

• 批准号: 2018897
• 负责人: Jenny Tung
• 金额: $ 3.22万
• 依托单位: Duke University
• 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: 2020-08-15 至 2023-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2018897&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; phenotypic; consequences

Recent findings suggest that intermixing with now-extinct relatives like the Neanderthals may have helped humans adapt to new environments during their rapid expansion around the globe, and may still contribute to human differences in disease susceptibility today. However, the extent to which benefits to hybridization are also found in other primates is not well understood. This doctoral dissertation project will use a model for natural hybridization in primates to investigate signatures of beneficial transfer of genetic variants between species. It will also ask whether hybridization affects hair color and maturation timing in baboons, traits that may be important in mate competition, fertility, or survival. The research will provide novel insight into hybridization’s role in primate evolution and shed light on how hybridization may influence primate diversity in the future. It will also contribute to STEM education at the elementary, undergraduate, and graduate levels through the design of new educational activities, mentored research opportunities for undergraduate students, and support for the co-PI’s PhD training. Finally, this project will facilitate public engagement with science through free-to-the-public presentations that will also be accessible online.To investigate the potential benefits of hybridization in primates, the project will integrate genomic and observational data from wild baboons. It will test the hypothesis that hybridization facilitates the transfer of a small number of advantageous genetic variants between yellow baboons and anubis baboons. To do so, genomic data will be generated for multiple populations spanning a baboon hybrid zone. These data will be subjected to three complementary methods to identify genetic variants affected by adaptive introgression. Cases of potential adaptive introgression will be investigated for overlap with genes that are also differentially expressed between yellow and anubis baboons. The project also will test the hypothesis that genetic ancestry predicts hair color and maturation timing in a well-studied baboon population at the center of the hybrid zone. It will assess whether ancestry effects on these traits differ in number and magnitude across the genome, based on evidence that hair and skin color traits tend to have a simpler genetic basis than life history traits like maturation timing. Finally, the project will test whether regions in the genome that contribute to ancestry-related differences in hair color or maturation timing are candidates for adaptive introgression.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.

最近的研究结果表明，与尼安德特人等现已灭绝的亲戚的混合可能有助于人类在地球仪快速扩张期间适应新环境，并且可能仍然有助于今天人类在疾病易感性方面的差异。然而，在其他灵长类动物中也发现杂交的益处的程度还不清楚。这个博士论文项目将使用灵长类动物的自然杂交模型来研究物种之间遗传变异的有益转移的特征。它还将询问杂交是否会影响狒狒的毛发颜色和成熟时间，这些特征可能对配偶竞争，生育力或生存很重要。这项研究将为杂交在灵长类进化中的作用提供新的见解，并阐明杂交如何影响灵长类动物的多样性。它还将通过设计新的教育活动，为本科生提供指导研究机会，以及支持共同PI的博士培训，为小学，本科和研究生阶段的STEM教育做出贡献。最后，该项目将通过免费的公众演示（也可在线访问）促进公众参与科学。为了研究灵长类动物杂交的潜在益处，该项目将整合野生狒狒的基因组和观察数据。它将检验杂交促进了黄色狒狒和阿努比斯狒狒之间少量有利的遗传变异的转移的假设。为此，将生成跨越狒狒杂交区的多个种群的基因组数据。这些数据将经过三种互补的方法来鉴定受适应性渐渗影响的遗传变异。将研究潜在适应性基因渗入的情况，以确定与黄色狒狒和阿努比斯狒狒之间差异表达的基因是否重叠。该项目还将在杂交区中心的一个经过充分研究的狒狒种群中测试遗传祖先预测毛发颜色和成熟时间的假设。它将评估祖先对这些特征的影响是否在整个基因组中的数量和幅度上有所不同，这是基于头发和肤色特征往往比成熟时间等生活史特征具有更简单的遗传基础的证据。最后，该项目将测试基因组中与毛发颜色或成熟时间相关的祖先差异是否是适应性渐渗的候选区域。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。

项目成果

Ecology and age, but not genetic ancestry, predict fetal loss in a wild baboon hybrid zone

• DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24686
• 发表时间: 2023-01-09
• 期刊: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• 作者: Fogel，Arielle S.;Oduor，Peter O.;Tung，Jenny
• 通讯作者: Tung，Jenny