BRC-BIO: Investigating Color and Pattern Diversity in Painted Turtles

BRC-BIO：研究锦龟的颜色和图案多样性

• 批准号: 2233233
• 负责人: Elizabeth Reinke
• 金额: $ 47.25万
• 依托单位: Northeastern Illinois University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2233233&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: BRC; BIO; Investigating; Color; Pattern

This research explores the function of variation in shell color and pattern in painted turtles. The work involves experiments and field work focused on understanding the antioxidant function of pigments in turtle tissues. In doing so, the work will explore how antioxidants impact survival, and the natural variation in shell colors and patterns. Understanding the antioxidant function and survival impacts of pigments is essential for making predictions about how turtles may respond to environmental change. This research will also provide students at a Hispanic-serving institution in Chicago the opportunity to conduct field work and research. Students will be trained in science communication and will co-author research papers. Students will also be able to participate in a paid internship with a software company who will develop an open-source platform for extracting color and pattern data from images. Understanding biological diversity requires both identifying the mechanisms and functions that underlie it, and understanding the fitness consequences of variation. Animal coloration and patterning are great traits with which to study functions and consequences of variation because these highly visible phenotypes can impact every aspect of an individual’s life. Painted turtles are so named because of their yellow skin stripes and their bright orange ventral shells. Despite their name and widespread range, little is known about their color or patterns. This research addresses these gaps in knowledge in three ways. First, by identifying the function of shell coloration (Objective 1). Second, by assessing how shell coloration impacts fitness (Objective 2). Third, by characterizing the variation in the shell patterns (Objective 3). Objective 1 will be investigated by manipulating the pigment content of turtle eggs in the nest and assessing the impact on antioxidant capacity. The researchers hypothesize that the carotenoids that are responsible for the bright orange shell color have a role in mitigating oxidative stress during recovery from overwintering. This hypothesis and the associated methods are built on previous work and pilot data. Objective 2 will be investigated by taking advantage of a natural experiment, by comparing both the population-level survival trajectories and the individual-level survival of two populations of painted turtles with similar pigment concentrations but different colorations. Lastly, Objective 3 will be studied by assessing intra-clutch, intrapopulation, and interpopulation variance in shell pattern using geometric morphometrics and neural networks. This latter objective will be done in collaboration with a software firm that can provide training and internships to students.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.

本研究探讨了锦龟甲壳颜色和图案变异的功能。这项工作涉及实验和现场工作，重点是了解海龟组织中色素的抗氧化功能。在此过程中，这项工作将探索抗氧化剂如何影响生存，以及贝壳颜色和图案的自然变化。了解色素的抗氧化功能和生存影响对于预测海龟如何应对环境变化至关重要。这项研究还将为芝加哥一家西班牙裔服务机构的学生提供进行实地工作和研究的机会。学生将接受科学传播方面的培训，并共同撰写研究论文。学生还可以参加一家软件公司的带薪实习，该公司将开发一个开源平台，用于从图像中提取颜色和图案数据。了解生物多样性需要识别其背后的机制和功能，并了解变异的适应性后果。动物的颜色和图案是研究变异的功能和后果的重要特征，因为这些高度可见的表型可以影响个体生活的各个方面。锦龟因其黄色的皮肤条纹和亮橙色的腹壳而得名。尽管它们的名字和分布范围很广，但人们对它们的颜色或图案知之甚少。这项研究通过三种方式解决了这些知识差距。首先，通过识别贝壳着色的功能（目标1）。其次，评估贝壳颜色如何影响健康（目标 2）。第三，通过表征贝壳图案的变化（目标 3）。目标 1 将通过控制巢中海龟蛋的色素含量并评估其对抗氧化能力的影响进行研究。研究人员推测，导致外壳呈亮橙色的类胡萝卜素在越冬恢复过程中具有减轻氧化应激的作用。该假设和相关方法建立在之前的工作和试点数据的基础上。目标2将利用自然实验的优势，通过比较色素浓度相似但颜色不同的两个锦龟种群的种群水平生存轨迹和个体水平生存情况来进行研究。最后，将通过使用几何形态测量学和神经网络评估贝壳图案的离合器内、种群内和种群间方差来研究目标 3。后一个目标将与一家可以为学生提供培训和实习的软件公司合作完成。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。