Collaborative Research: RUI: From Molecules to Mating: An Integrative Approach to Understanding Chemical Signal Evolution in Fireflies

合作研究：RUI：从分子到交配：理解萤火虫化学信号进化的综合方法

• 批准号: 2035239
• 负责人: Gregory Pask
• 金额: $ 26.83万
• 依托单位: Middlebury College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-03-01 至 2026-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2035239&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; RUI; Molecules; Mating

Communication among individual animals is essential for survival and reproduction. Across animals, communication signals are incredibly diverse and employ a variety of senses, ranging from vision to smell. This project seeks to determine how and why signals differ among species in the charismatic insect group, the fireflies. While the public is most familiar with their flashing signals on warm summer nights, used to find and locate mates, a number of firefly species have lost the ability to produce light as adults. Unlike their lighted counterparts, these “unlighted” adult fireflies are day-active, and studies suggest that they use smell to detect the chemical signals (pheromones) of potential mates. By comparing North American firefly species that use light versus pheromone signals, there is the potential to identify common patterns in the chemical, genetic, and behavioral changes associated with switching signal modes. The resources produced during this project will dramatically expand genomic tools for fireflies, enabling substantial advances in evolutionary, natural products, and conservation studies. The pheromones identified can open up new possibilities for surveillance of threatened unlighted firefly populations that are otherwise relatively difficult to census. Fireflies also offer an ideal opportunity for public outreach, as they are charismatic insects that draw public interest. Development of educational modules in insect biology and conservation during the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival and interdisciplinary community programming on fireflies in art and culture will bring the science and impact of insects to the public.In nature, mating signals are diverse and even closely-related species can employ strikingly different signaling strategies. To understand what generates this diversity, we must understand the fundamental mechanisms and evolutionary processes that govern signal mode change across taxa. Fireflies, in the beetle family Lampyridae, are renowned for their nocturnal light signals that function primarily in mate recognition and choice. While the larvae of all firefly species emit light, only some species emit light as adults. These “unlighted” adult fireflies are diurnal and likely use long- and short-distance pheromones to find mates. In North American taxa, the loss of lighted communication and secondary gain of chemical signals appears to have occurred independently several times. These natural replicates facilitate the exploration of the molecular and behavioral changes that accompany an evolutionary switch in primary mating signal mode. (i) Characterization of volatile and cuticular signaling compounds from pairs of closely related species with contrasting signal modes will test whether chemical repertoires diversify in unlighted taxa. (ii) Next generation sequencing will enable examinations of whether chemical repertoire diversification is accompanied by corresponding diversification of chemosensory receptors, and identify convergent pathways for signal mode switching among firefly clades. (iii) Functional characterization studies will directly link chemosensory receptor genes to specific mating pheromone components. Investigating evolutionary signal mode switches in an organismal system with extreme differences in unimodal signals offers a unique opportunity to develop patterns and predictions that advance the study of more complex multimodal signals.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.

动物个体之间的交流对于生存和繁殖至关重要。在动物中，交流信号极其多样化，并采用从视觉到嗅觉等多种感官。该项目旨在确定具有超凡魅力的昆虫群体——萤火虫——的信号如何以及为何存在差异。虽然公众最熟悉的是它们在温暖的夏夜发出的闪烁信号，用于寻找和定位配偶，但许多萤火虫物种在成年后已经失去了发光的能力。与发光的萤火虫不同，这些“未发光”的成年萤火虫是白天活跃的，研究表明它们利用气味来检测潜在配偶的化学信号（信息素）。通过比较使用光信号和信息素信号的北美萤火虫物种，有可能识别与信号模式切换相关的化学、遗传和行为变化的常见模式。该项目产生的资源将极大地扩展萤火虫的基因组工具，从而在进化、天然产物和保护研究方面取得重大进展。所识别的信息素可以为监视受威胁的未点燃的萤火虫种群开辟新的可能性，否则这些萤火虫种群的普查相对困难。萤火虫还为公众宣传提供了理想的机会，因为它们是吸引公众兴趣的魅力昆虫。在宾夕法尼亚萤火虫节期间开发昆虫生物学和保护教育模块，以及艺术和文化中萤火虫的跨学科社区规划，将为公众带来昆虫的科学和影响。 在自然界中，交配信号是多种多样的，甚至密切相关的物种也可以采用截然不同的信号策略。为了理解是什么产生了这种多样性，我们必须了解控制跨类群信号模式变化的基本机制和进化过程。萤火虫属于甲虫科，以其夜间发光信号而闻名，这些信号主要用于配偶识别和选择。虽然所有萤火虫物种的幼虫都会发光，但只有某些物种在成年时会发光。这些“未点燃”的成年萤火虫是昼夜性的，可能使用长距离和短距离的信息素来寻找配偶。在北美分类单元中，光照通讯的丧失和化学信号的二次增益似乎独立发生了多次。这些自然复制有助于探索伴随初级交配信号模式进化切换的分子和行为变化。 (i) 对具有对比信号模式的密切相关物种对的挥发性和角质信号化合物的表征将测试未光照类群中化学成分是否多样化。 （ii）下一代测序将能够检查化学库多样化是否伴随着化学感应受体的相应多样化，并确定萤火虫进化枝之间信号模式切换的收敛途径。 (iii) 功能表征研究将化学感应受体基因与特定的交配信息素成分直接联系起来。研究单峰信号存在极大差异的有机体系统中的进化信号模式切换，为开发模式和预测提供了独特的机会，从而推进更复杂的多峰信号的研究。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。