MCA: New directions in female aggression research

MCA：女性攻击性研究的新方向

• 批准号: 2121849
• 负责人: Jennifer Gleason
• 金额: $ 26.95万
• 依托单位: University of Kansas Center for Research Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-01-15 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2121849&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MCA; New; directions; female; aggression

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.

动物为获得资源而战，包括食物、配偶和领土。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，女性的战斗将在几个果蝇物种，不同的生态，以确定是否资源类型影响战斗的女性。此外，还将评估女性打斗的遗传基础，以确定是否与男性打斗相似。为了完成这个项目，研究者将接受培训，使用快速评分方法评估女性攻击行为。研究人员广泛研究求偶期间雄性和雌性之间的互动，但缺乏战斗行为和快速评分技术的专业知识。这项工作的合作伙伴已经对果蝇模型物种Drosophila melanogaster的雌性攻击性进行了广泛的研究，并开发了快速的行为评分。通过共同对三种果蝇进行实验，研究人员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调查人员提供受保护的时间和资源，并将在课堂和实验室为学生开发研究经验。同种攻击是增加资源获取的一种策略。雄性对雄性的攻击比雌性对雌性的攻击受到更多的关注，因为雄性获得配偶的机会往往比雌性更大。在这个项目中，雌性攻击性将在果蝇物种中进行研究，这些果蝇物种在生物学上不同，因此它们需要的资源也不同。此外，还将评估女性攻击性的遗传学，以确定它是否与男性具有相似的基础。研究者将与合作伙伴合作，接受评估女性攻击行为和高通量表型分析的培训。每个合作伙伴都为项目带来了不同的专业知识。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。她与许多不同的物种合作过，熟悉它们的生物学。合作伙伴对D.黑腹果蝇，并开发了自动跟踪和评分的行为，同时使用分子遗传学方法。研究人员和合作伙伴将与三种果蝇合作，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动一个新的调查领域，这是对以前工作的补充，从而有助于推动研究人员的职业生涯。该奖项反映了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。