MCA: New directions in female aggression research

动物为获取食物、配偶和领土等资源而战。雄性之间的争斗比雌性之间的争斗更为公开，因此受到了更多的关注。在这个项目中，雌性果蝇的战斗将在几种不同的生态环境中进行研究，以确定资源类型是否会影响雌性果蝇的战斗。此外，将评估雌性格斗的遗传基础，以确定它是否与雄性格斗相似。为了完成这个项目，研究者将接受使用快速评分方法评估女性攻击行为的培训。研究者广泛研究求偶期间雄性和雌性之间的相互作用，但缺乏打斗行为和快速评分技术方面的专业知识。在这项工作的合作伙伴已经进行了广泛的研究雌性侵略的模式果蝇物种，果蝇黑腹，并开发了快速的行为评分。通过联手对三种果蝇进行实验，研究者和合作伙伴将解决进化生物学中的基本问题。该项目将在一个新的研究领域为研究者提供受保护的时间和资源，并将在课堂和实验室中为学生提供研究经验。同种侵略是一种增加获取资源的策略。男性和男性之间的攻击比女性和女性之间的攻击受到更多的关注，因为通常男性比女性更容易获得配偶。在这个项目中，雌性的攻击性将在果蝇物种中进行研究，这些物种在生物学上存在差异，因此它们需要的资源也不同。此外，将评估雌性攻击性的基因，以确定它是否与雄性具有相似的基础。研究者将与合作伙伴一起工作，接受评估女性攻击行为和高通量表型的培训。每个合作伙伴为项目带来不同的专业知识。首席研究员广泛研究果蝇的求偶行为，专注于信号及其接收，包括系统发育和定量遗传方法。她研究过许多不同的物种，熟悉它们的生物学。合作伙伴对黑腹龙的雌性攻击性进行了广泛的研究，并利用分子遗传学方法开发了自动跟踪和记录行为的方法。研究三种果蝇物种，研究者和合作伙伴将解决进化生物学中的基本问题。该项目将通过提供资源和时间来推进与以前工作相辅相成的新的研究领域，从而有助于促进研究者的职业发展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Animals fight for access to resources including food, mates, and territories. Fights between males are more overt than fights between females, and as a consequence have received more attention. In this project, female fighting will be examined in several fruit fly species that differ in their ecology to determine if resource type affects fighting in females. In addition, the genetic basis of female fighting will be assessed to determine if it is similar to male fighting. To accomplish this project, the investigator will be trained in assessing female aggressive behaviors using rapid scoring methodology. The investigator works extensively on interactions between males and females during courtship but lacks expertise in fighting behaviors and in rapid scoring technologies. The collaborative partner in this work has performed extensive research on female aggression in the model fruit fly species, Drosophila melanogaster, and has developed rapid scoring of behaviors. By joining together to perform experiments with three fruit fly species, the investigator and the partner will tackle fundamental questions in evolutionary biology. The project will provide protected time and resources in a new field of research for the investigator and will develop research experiences for students in the classroom and in the lab.Conspecific aggression is a strategy for increasing access to resources. Male-male aggression receives far more attention than female-female aggression, because often the access to mates is more skewed for males than for females. In this project, female aggression will be examined in Drosophila species that differ in their biology and thus the resources they require. In addition, the genetics of female aggression will be assessed to determine if it has a similar basis to that of males. The investigator will work with a collaborative partner to be trained in assessing female aggressive behaviors and in high-throughput phenotyping. Each partner brings different expertise to the project. The lead investigator works extensively on courtship behavior in Drosophila concentrating on signals and their reception, including phylogenetic and quantitative genetic approaches. She has worked with many different species and is familiar with their biology. The collaborative partner has performed extensive research on female aggression in D. melanogaster and has developed automated tracking and scoring of the behaviors while using molecular genetics approaches. Working with three drosophilid species, the investigator and partner will tackle fundamental questions in evolutionary biology. The project will help to advance the career of the investigator by providing resources and time to advance a new field of inquiry that is complementary to that of previous work.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.