Collaborative Research: Investigating the factors shaping marine-derived freshwater fish radiations in tropical rivers of Australia and New Guinea

合作研究：调查澳大利亚和新几内亚热带河流中海洋淡水鱼辐射的影响因素

• 批准号: 2225130
• 负责人: Ricardo Betancur
• 金额: $ 69.56万
• 依托单位: University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-04-01 至 2027-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2225130&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Investigating; factors; shaping

The vast majority of the over 30,000 species of fishes in the world occur either in marine or freshwater ecosystems, not both. However, over the course of millions of years, select lineages of fishes have crossed the boundary between marine and freshwaters, established permanent residence, and diversified in the newly colonized environment. A subset of the fish groups then underwent remarkable evolutionary expansion upon colonizing freshwaters, diversifying into an array of different species that play different ecological roles. Australia and New Guinea are unique because their freshwater fish communities are primarily comprised of lineages derived from marine ancestors, and at least seven such lineages underwent spectacular diversification. This project will explore how varying rates of evolution, ages of different fish groups, and the interactions among fish communities have influenced the evolutionary outcomes of colonizing freshwaters in the Australia-New Guinea region. The study also aims to determine the genetic mechanisms underlying adaptation to freshwater environments, findings of particular relevance to a changing planet. The project will train undergraduate and graduate students in modern biodiversity science, and through student exchanges, provide benefits to US and New Guinean students. High school teachers will be trained to read, interpret, and teach the evolutionary Tree of Life, skills that can be incorporated into K-12 curriculum. Finally, an electronic guide the fishes of New Guinea will be developed and made freely available. While much progress has been achieved in identifying the drivers of adaptive radiation in relation to colonization of islands by terrestrial animals (e.g., finches, anoles) or lakes by fishes (e.g., cichlids, sticklebacks), transitions into rivers by marine groups have rarely been examined in this context. The proposed project will take advantage of a unique 'natural experiment'––the depauperate primary freshwater fish community in rivers of Australia and New Guinea––to examine the extent to which marine-to-freshwater transitions resulted in adaptive radiations. More specifically, it aims to identify the factors that promoted or constrained lineage, phenotypic, and genomic evolution of marine-derived freshwater groups in the region. The project will integrate genomic, morphological, paleontological, and ecological data from more than 400 fish species representing 16 families in the Australia and New Guinea region to study diversification patterns associated not only with transitions across the marine-freshwater boundary but also along the benthic-pelagic axis. Phylogenomic analyses in combination with phylogenetic comparative methods will be used to study how the chronological sequence of habitat transitions influenced the outcome of lineage diversification and morphological evolution of freshwater radiations. Comparative genomic approaches based on whole genomes will be used to identify loci related to functional adaptations, including signatures of molecular adaptation and convergence, as well as gene family expansions and contractions. Ultimately this project will provide an evolutionary framework to help understand the factors regulating adaptive radiations across environmental gradients. It will include student training in fish biodiversity at a variety of levels.This project is jointly funded by the Systematics and Biodiversity Science Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.

世界上30,000多种鱼类中的绝大多数要么生活在海洋生态系统中，要么生活在淡水生态系统中，而不是两者兼而有之。然而，在数百万年的过程中，精选的鱼类谱系跨越了海洋和淡水之间的边界，建立了永久居住地，并在新殖民的环境中实现了多样化。随后，鱼类群体的一部分在定居淡水后经历了显著的进化扩张，形成了一系列扮演不同生态角色的不同物种。澳大利亚和新几内亚是独一无二的，因为它们的淡水鱼群落主要由来自海洋祖先的谱系组成，至少有7个这样的谱系经历了壮观的多样化。该项目将探索不同的进化速度、不同鱼类种群的年龄以及鱼类群落之间的相互作用如何影响澳大利亚-新几内亚地区殖民淡水的进化结果。这项研究还旨在确定适应淡水环境的遗传机制，这一发现与不断变化的地球特别相关。该项目将培训现代生物多样性科学方面的本科生和研究生，并通过学生交换，为美国和新几内亚的学生提供好处。高中教师将接受阅读、解释和教授生命进化树的培训，这些技能可以纳入K-12课程。最后，将开发电子指南《新几内亚的鱼类》，并免费提供。虽然在确定与陆地动物(如雀类)或湖泊由鱼类(如慈鱼、刺鱼)殖民岛屿有关的适应性辐射驱动因素方面取得了很大进展，但在这方面很少研究海洋群体向河流的过渡。拟议中的项目将利用一个独特的自然实验--澳大利亚和新几内亚河流中退化的初级淡水鱼群落--来检查从海洋到淡水的转变在多大程度上导致了适应性辐射。更具体地说，它的目的是确定促进或限制该地区海洋淡水种群的谱系、表型和基因组进化的因素。该项目将整合澳大利亚和新几内亚地区16个科的400多种鱼类的基因组、形态、古生物学和生态学数据，以研究不仅与跨越海洋-淡水边界的过渡有关的多样化模式，而且还研究与底栖-中上层轴线有关的多样性模式。将结合系统发育比较方法进行系统基因组学分析，以研究生境转变的时间顺序如何影响淡水辐射的谱系多样化和形态演变的结果。基于全基因组的比较基因组方法将被用来确定与功能适应相关的基因座，包括分子适应和收敛的标志，以及基因家族的扩张和收缩。最终，该项目将提供一个进化框架，以帮助理解跨环境梯度调节适应性辐射的因素。该项目由系统学和生物多样性科学计划和既定的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)共同资助。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。