Dimensions US Sao Paulo: Evolutionary and genetic origins of diverse trophic specializations in blow flies

丽蝇（双翅目：丽蝇科）是腐肉和有机物的分解者，几乎在每一个环境中都能找到。少数物种似乎已经独立地进化出寄生的生活方式，有些物种，如新世界螺旋虫，是牲畜的毁灭性害虫。这种饮食习惯的显着多样性在全球已知的约1,200种物种中可见，因此，苍蝇可以作为了解进食专业化的进化和遗传起源的极好模型。然而，由于显着缺乏系统发育，遗传和生态信息，这些不同的食性在打击苍蝇的起源和进化历史是研究不足。这项研究将使用苍蝇作为模型组，以解决围绕其饮食多样性的进化和遗传起源尚未解决的问题。导致果蝇多样性增加的因素将为在生命之树的其他动物群体中进行类似的研究铺平道路，以进一步推动我们对全球生物多样性的理解。通过这一项目，将对学生进行国际科学研究方面的培训，将建立一个关于苍蝇的在线数据资源，并将开展若干推广活动，使公众参与科学。该项目将与来自巴西的科学家合作，在苍蝇研究的三个综合方面调查不同饮食习惯的原因和后果：1）系统发育：重建苍蝇的进化历史并绘制整个家庭的饮食习惯转变; 2）遗传/基因组：鉴定与专门的摄食习惯相关的基因，并评估它们在家族、群体和品系水平上是否一致;以及3）功能性：使用CRISPR/Cas9敲除所识别的基因，以确定它们在食物来源偏好中的作用。此外，我们将研究肠道微生物组在介导饮食适应和维持多种生物相互作用中的作用。整合多个实验室的研究结果，研究多个谱系的苍蝇，将允许围绕起源和维持不同的食性及其对谱系多样性的影响的关键问题得到解决。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。

Blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are found in nearly every environment as decomposers of carrion and organic matter. A minority of species appear to have independently evolved a parasitic lifestyle and some, such as the New World screwworm, are devastating pests of livestock. This remarkable diversity in dietary habit is seen across many of the ~1,200 species known globally, and as such blow flies can serve as excellent models to understand the evolutionary and genetic origins of feeding specializations. However, due to the significant lack of phylogenetic, genetic, and ecological information, the origin and evolutionary history of these diverse feeding habits in blow flies is understudied. This research will use blow flies as a model group to address an unresolved question surrounding the evolutionary and genetic origins of their dietary diversity. The factors contributing to the rise of this diversity in blow flies will pave the way for similar studies in other animal groups across the tree of life, to further fuel our understanding of global biodiversity. Through this project, students will be trained in international scientific research, an on-line data resource for blow flies will be created, and several outreach activities will be undertaken to engage the general public in the science. In collaboration with scientists from Brazil, this project will investigate the causes and consequences of diverse feeding habits across three integrated dimensions of blow fly research: 1) phylogenetic: reconstructing the evolutionary history of blow flies and mapping feeding habit transitions across the family; 2) genetic/genomic: identifying genes associated with specialized feeding habits, and assessing whether they are consistent at the family, population and strain level; and 3) functional: using CRISPR/Cas9 to knockout the identified genes to determine their roles in food source preference. Further, we will investigate the role of the gut microbiome in mediating diet adaptations and maintaining diverse biotic interactions. Integration of research findings across laboratories studying multiple lineages of blow flies, will allow key questions surrounding the origin and maintenance of diverse feeding habits and their impact on lineage diversity to be addressed.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.