Collaborative Research: Molecular and evolutionary mechanisms underlying the rapid gain and loss of an insect pheromone

昆虫根据对信息素的感知做出关于繁殖和生存的关键决定，信息素是同一物种成员之间交换的特殊化学信号，指示个体是雄性还是雌性及其交配状态。信息素的化学结构可以在密切相关的物种之间有所不同，这意味着快速进化。然而，与翅膀图案等视觉信号或交配歌曲等听觉信号不同，人们对新的化学信号如何产生和多样化知之甚少。这个合作项目将调查遗传和生物化学过程的基础上的抗催情信息素产生的果蝇物种的进化。这些发现将加深我们对化学和分子水平的进化如何导致生物体规模的社会行为变化（如配偶选择）的理解。研究成果将直接应用于设计基于信息素的策略，以破坏传播疾病的农业害虫和昆虫的繁殖。将通过实验室和文献为基础的研究经验，为来自代表性不足的少数民族背景的本科生提供培训机会。与夏威夷语言学者合作，学生将通过研究和翻译记录地方性昆虫，其栖息地及其在夏威夷文化中的作用的档案材料，从夏威夷土著的角度调查夏威夷昆虫学科学的历史。这项工作将通过夏威夷马诺阿大学和密歇根州立大学这两个参与机构之间的交流以及在当地的公共外联活动中传播。昆虫占世界物种的80%，并使用各种各样的化学感受信号来做出有关繁殖和生存的关键决定。然而，很少有人知道的生化和遗传过程，形状的多样化的化学感觉性状。这个项目的总体目标是了解信息素如何起源和进化。该研究将确定控制CH 503合成和进化的代谢和遗传机制，CH 503是一种在射精球中产生的雄性抗性欲信息素，存在于某些果蝇物种中，但不存在于其他物种中。中心假设是脂质信息素CH 503的进化是由次生代谢产物的多样化和脂质生物合成基因的组织特异性激活的变化驱动的。为了揭示这种信息素快速进化的潜在机制，质谱，转录组学分析和遗传操作将被用于：1）识别和追踪CH 503生产者和非生产者（包括D.黑腹果蝇、同一亚组的其他六个成员和两个远亲物种; 2）鉴定和追踪CH 503生物合成基础的遗传组分的进化;和3）确定向不产生CH 503的物种引入新的生物合成途径如何改变射精球的化学特征。将向其他研究人员提供将要开发的基于高灵敏度质谱法的脂质分析方法以及生成的代谢组学数据。该奖项还将有助于培养至少两名博士后学者和六名本科生研究人员，其成果在农业中具有潜在的应用，可以开发控制昆虫种群的方法。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Insects make critical decisions about reproduction and survival based on the perception of pheromones, specialized chemical signals exchanged between members of the same species that indicate whether an individual is male or female and its mating status. The chemical structures of pheromones can differ between closely related species, implying rapid evolution. However, unlike visual signals like wing patterns or auditory signals like mating songs, little is known about how new chemical signals arise and diversify. This collaborative project will investigate the genetic and biochemical processes that underlie the evolution of an anti-aphrodisiac pheromone produced by Drosophila fruit fly species. The findings will deepen our understanding of how evolution at the chemical and molecular level can lead to organismal-scale changes in social behaviors such as mate choice. The research outcomes will have direct application to the design of pheromone-based strategies to disrupt the reproduction of agricultural pests and insects that transmit disease. Training opportunities will be provided to undergraduate students from underrepresented minority backgrounds through laboratory- and literature-based research experiences. In collaboration with Hawaiian language scholars, students will investigate the history of entomological science in Hawai‘i from a Native Hawaiian perspective by researching and translating archival materials that document endemic insects, their habitats, and their role in Hawaiian culture. That work will be disseminated through exchanges between the two participating institutions, University of Hawai‘i Manoa and Michigan State University, and at local public outreach events. Insects represent 80% of the world’s species and use a wide variety of chemosensory signals to make critical decisions about reproduction and survival. However, little is known about the biochemical and genetic processes that shape the diversification of chemosensory traits. The overall goal of this project is to understand how pheromones originate and evolve. The study will identify the metabolic and genetic mechanisms that control the synthesis and evolution of CH503, a male anti-aphrodisiac pheromone produced in the ejaculatory bulb, which is present in some species of Drosophila, but not others. The central hypothesis is that the evolution of the lipid pheromone CH503 is driven by diversification of secondary metabolites and changes in the tissue-specific activation of lipid biosynthesis genes. To uncover mechanisms underlying the rapid evolution of this pheromone, mass spectrometry, transcriptomic analysis, and genetic manipulation will be used to: 1) identify and trace the evolution of the metabolome of the ejaculatory bulb in CH503-producers and non-producers, including D. melanogaster, six other members of the same subgroup, and two distantly related species; 2) identify and trace the evolution of the genetic components underlying the biosynthesis of CH503; and 3) determine how introduction of a novel biosynthetic pathway to species that do not produce CH503 changes the chemical profile of the ejaculatory bulb. The high-sensitivity mass spectrometry-based methods for lipid analysis to be developed, as well as the metabolomic data generated, will be made available to other researchers. This award will also contribute to the training of at least two post-doctoral scholars and six undergraduate researchers, and the results have potential applications in agriculture for the development of methods to control insect populations.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.