Collaborative Research: How many routes to the same phenotype? Genetic changes underlying parallel acquisition of mimetic color patterns across bumble bees

数百种熊蜂是全世界重要的传粉者。它们也有有趣的行为和形态，告诉我们关于进化的信息。颜色模式多样性是这些特征中最显著的。这些物种有数百种不同的模式，黄色，橙子，黑色和白色的头发在他们的身体。这种多样性与模仿有关，即物种聚集在同一模式以避免捕食。然而，这种主要的颜色模式因地区而异。这种颜色模式的重复进化可以用来理解基因在进化过程中是如何被靶向的。在美国西部，几种大黄蜂物种在整个景观中经历了平行的变化。这项研究将研究驱动这些西方物种颜色变化的基因，并更好地了解进化的可重复性。该研究的更广泛影响包括培训本科生开发功能遗传学工具。研究人员还将通过几个面向公众的活动在科学界之外分享他们所获得的知识，并为熊蜂制定颜色模式领域指南。该研究将比较重复颜色变化的基因，以判断是否有相同的基因被重复靶向，或者是否有多种方法获得相同的表型。这项研究结合了全基因组性状关联分析和跨发育转录组比较，以确定美国西部五组模拟物种的颜色变异基因网络。这包括识别最终色素沉着基因的遗传靶点特定变化。它将告诉基因中的哪些区域最有可能成为目标。它将确定是否有主要的发育基因被用于新的功能，或者下游基因是否更经常被靶向。它还将告诉我们遗传变异是如何在物种内部和物种之间遗传和转移的，从而影响总的多样性。这项研究将提供几种北美熊蜂的基因组序列，澄清被模仿隐藏的物种界限。它还将提高对动物发育和色素沉着基因作用的理解。基因组将被测序的物种跨越一个分支的模仿，以揭示如何颜色决定基因的演变。这些目标将提供一个案例研究，如何遗传变异和基因表达的变化，在整个物种的演变选择。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

Hundreds of bumble bee species are important pollinators worldwide. They also have interesting behaviors and morphologies that tell us about evolution. Color pattern diversity is the most notable of these traits. These species have hundreds of different patterns of yellow, orange, black, and white hairs across their bodies. This diversity is related to mimicry, whereby species converge upon the same pattern to avoid predation. However, that dominant color pattern differs by region. This repeated evolution of color patterns can be used to understand how genes are targeted during evolution. In the Western United States, several bumble bee species undergo parallel changes across the landscape. This research will examine the genes that drive coloration shifts in each of these western species and provide a better understanding of how repeatable evolution is. Broader impacts of the research include training undergraduate students to develop functional genetics tools. The researchers will also share their gained knowledge outside the scientific community through several events for the public and develop color pattern field guides for bumble bees.The study will compare genes across repeated color shifts to tell if the same genes are repeatedly targeted or if there are many ways to get to the same phenotype. The proposed research uses a combination of genome-wide trait association analysis and cross-developmental transcriptome comparisons to determine gene networks for color variation across five sets of mimetic species in the Western United States. This includes identifying genetic targets specific changes in final pigmentation genes. It will tell which regions within genes are most likely to be targeted. It will determine if there are major developmental genes that get used in new functions or if downstream genes are more often targeted. It will also tell us how genetic variants inherited and transferred within and across species influence total diversity. This study will provide genome sequences for several North American bumble bees, clarifying species boundaries hidden by mimicry. It will also improve understanding of the role of developmental and pigmentation genes in animals. Genomes will be sequenced for species across a clade of mimics to reveal how color-determining genes evolve. These objectives will provide a case study of how genetic variants and resulting changes in gene expression evolve across species under selection.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.