Investigating chemosensory evolution in longhorned beetles using a comparative phylogenomic framework that integrates genomic, morphological, and biochemical data

天牛是一个高度多样化的昆虫群体，有30,000多个物种。它们以枯木和植物为食；此外，它们还为花授粉。因此，它们具有重要的积极生态影响。然而，有时它们可能是活着的树木和木材的严重害虫。尽管天牛种群具有重要的生态意义和丰富的多样性，但天牛主要种群的进化关系仍然是个谜。这项研究将通过对关键物种的基因组进行测序并比较差异来重建该群体的进化。同时，该项目将探索为什么天牛变得如此多样化，以及这与它们同名的长角或触角是如何联系在一起的。这些角是高度敏感的化学感官，用来嗅觉和品尝环境。显微镜、成像和基因组学中的最新技术将被用于研究天牛的触角，识别探测气味和味道的基因，并重建这些器官的变化如何有助于该小组的成功。这些信息将有助于控制天牛的努力，天牛是树木和木材上的害虫，同时避免对具有积极生态影响的物种造成伤害。此外，所获得的知识将有助于提高我们对其他节肢动物群体的化学感受的理解，这些节肢动物群体还包括对生态有益的物种和具有重大经济影响的害虫。最后，该项目将通过培训本科生和研究生以及博士后研究人员，教授K-12学生关于昆虫生物多样性的知识，以及广泛分享新的数据和教育材料，实现科学指导、教育和推广。该项目将产生第一个全面的、大规模的天牛系统学，其中包括主要以木材为食的动物的高度多样化的辐射，以获得对昆虫化学感觉生物学和进化的详细了解。将考虑通过锚定的杂交浓缩测序从600个物种获得的500个核基因的数据，并收集关于该群体的遗传学和形态的广泛的新数据。扫描电子显微镜将被用来比较几个天牛谱系的触角化学感受器的多样性和变异性。这项研究将产生触角转录本和带注释的化学受体和信息素受体基因图谱，这些基因图谱将用于对受体化学进行比较分析。通过这种方式，天牛化学通讯的进化将被确定。这项研究还将有助于揭示天牛之间的生态差异是如何与化学感觉器官和化学感受器谱系的差异有关的。这将加强对天牛化学通信不同模式的演变的理解，并阐明这些不同模式的起源可能如何影响多样性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Longhorned beetles are a highly diverse insect group with over 30,000 species. They feed on dead wood and also plants; in addition, they pollinate flowers. Thus, they have an important positive ecological impact. However, sometimes they can be serious pests of living trees and timber. In spite of the ecological significance of the group and its rich diversity, the evolutionary relationship of major groups of longhorned beetles remains a mystery. This research will reconstruct the evolution of the group by sequencing genomes of key species and comparing the differences. Simultaneously, the project will explore why longhorned beetles have become so diverse and how this is linked to their namesake long “horns,” or antennae. These horns are highly sensitive chemosensory organs that are used to smell and taste the environment. The latest techniques in microscopy, imaging, and genomics will be used to study longhorned beetle antennae, identify the genes that detect odors and tastes, and reconstruct how changes in these organs have contributed to the success of the group. This information will help assist efforts to control the longhorned beetles that are pests on trees and timber, while avoiding harm to species that have positive ecological impacts. Moreover, the knowledge gained will help improve our understanding of chemosensation in other groups of arthropods that also include ecologically beneficial species and pests with major economic impacts. Finally, this project will enable science mentoring, education, and outreach, through training undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, teaching K-12 students about insect biodiversity, and widely sharing new data and educational materials. This project will produce the first comprehensive, large-scale phylogeny of longhorned beetles, which comprises a highly diverse radiation of primarily wood-feeding animals, in order to obtain a detailed understanding of insect chemosensory biology and evolution. Data from 500 nuclear genes obtained from 600 species via anchored hybrid enrichment sequencing will be considered, and extensive new data on the genetics and morphology of the group will be gathered. Scanning electron microscopy will be used to compare the diversity and variation of antennal chemosensory organs across several longhorned beetle lineages. The research will yield antennal transcriptomes and annotated chemoreceptor and pheromone receptor gene repertoires, which will be used to conduct a comparative analysis of receptor chemistry. In this manner, the evolution of longhorned beetle chemical communication will be determined. The research will also help reveal how ecological distinctions among longhorned beetles are related to differences in chemosensory organs and chemoreceptor repertoires. This will enhance understanding of the evolution of different modes of longhorned beetle chemical communication and elucidate how the origins of these disparate modes may have influenced diversification.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.