The role of plasticity in the evolution of novelty in animal communication

可塑性在动物交流新颖性进化中的作用

• 批准号: 2240950
• 负责人: E Dale Broder
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: University of Denver
• 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: 2023-02-01 至 2025-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2240950&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: role; plasticity; evolution; novelty; animal

Understanding how new traits arise is fundamental to explaining the diversity of life on Earth, but it is challenging to imagine how novel traits could arise in animal communication because communication requires coordination between a sender and a receiver. For example, if a sender evolves a novel signal, it may not be perceived or recognized by the intended receiver as a signal. Yet we know that novel signals do evolve. Plasticity has been suggested as a possible explanation. Plasticity refers to changes in an organism in response to the environment. For example, perhaps exposure to a novel signal plastically changes the preferences of the receiver so that they are willing to accept senders with this signal. In this proposal, the researchers capitalize on the recent discovery of two novel signals (songs) that Pacific field crickets use to attract mates. The researchers propose a large breeding experiment where male and female crickets are exposed to different songs, including the two novel songs, beginning at a young age. Researchers will then measure plasticity in adult crickets for a suite of reproductive traits to uncover the role of plasticity in the origins of novelty. This project also integrates education aims to support young scientists in the LGBTQ+ community, mentoring diverse undergraduate students in independent research, creating teaching resources that use data from this research to teach about plasticity and novelty, and using a web-based citizen science platform to allow the public to participate directly in the research. Novelty is readily detectable on a macroevolutionary scale, and novel traits can drive diversification, but opportunities to observe novelty in real time are rare, so empirical examples and opportunities to ask how novel traits arise are lacking. It is particularly challenging to imagine how novelty could evolve in animal communication because communication requires coordination between a sender and a receiver. It has been suggested that phenotypic plasticity may facilitate the establishment of novel traits, and developmental plasticity has been specifically linked to innovation. Two novel signals (songs) recently evolved in Hawaiian populations of Teleogryllus oceanicus, providing an unprecedented opportunity to test the central hypothesis that plasticity facilitates the establishment of novelty. The researchers propose a large breeding experiment with acoustic rearing treatments to measure plasticity in receivers and senders for suites of reproductive traits in ancestral and derived morphs. The work will reveal whether novelty can evolve in the absence of plasticity or instead if novel communication signals are facilitated by plasticity in receivers, senders, or both. The use of a genotype-by-environment breeding design will also establish whether plasticity pre-dates the origin of novel signal features and at what stages of the reproductive process plasticity overcomes reproductive barriers.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.

理解新特征是如何产生的是解释地球上生命多样性的基础，但想象动物交流中新特征是如何产生的是具有挑战性的，因为交流需要发送者和接收者之间的协调。例如，如果发送方演化出新颖的信号，则其可能不会被预期接收方感知或识别为信号。然而，我们知道新的信号确实会进化。塑性被认为是一种可能的解释。可塑性是指生物体对环境的反应。例如，也许暴露在一个新的信号下会可塑性地改变接收者的偏好，使他们愿意接受这个信号的干扰。在这项提议中，研究人员利用了最近发现的两种新信号（歌曲），太平洋田野蟋蟀用来吸引配偶。研究人员提出了一个大型的繁殖实验，雄性和雌性蟋蟀在很小的时候就开始接触不同的歌曲，包括两种新的歌曲。然后，研究人员将测量成年蟋蟀的一系列生殖特征的可塑性，以揭示可塑性在新奇事物起源中的作用。该项目还整合了教育，旨在支持LGBTQ+社区的年轻科学家，指导不同的本科生进行独立研究，创建教学资源，使用本研究的数据来教授可塑性和新奇，并使用基于网络的公民科学平台，让公众直接参与研究。新奇在宏观进化的尺度上很容易被发现，新奇的特征可以推动多样化，但是在真实的时间里观察新奇的机会很少，因此缺乏实证的例子和机会来询问新奇的特征是如何产生的。想象动物交流中的新奇性是如何演变的，这尤其具有挑战性，因为交流需要发送者和接收者之间的协调。有人认为，表型可塑性可能有助于建立新的性状，和发育可塑性已被具体联系到创新。两个新的信号（歌曲）最近在夏威夷的Teleogryllus oceanicus种群进化，提供了一个前所未有的机会来测试的中心假设，即可塑性有利于建立新奇。研究人员提出了一个大型的育种实验，用声学饲养处理来测量接收器和接收器的可塑性，以获得祖先和衍生变体中的生殖特征。这项工作将揭示新奇是否可以在没有可塑性的情况下进化，或者如果新颖的通信信号被接收器，接收器或两者的可塑性所促进。使用基因型环境育种设计也将确定是否可塑性早于新的信号功能的起源，以及在生殖过程的哪些阶段可塑性克服了生殖barriers.This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。

项目成果

STEM Summer Camp for Girls Positively Affects Self-Efficacy

女孩STEM夏令营积极影响自我效能

• DOI: 10.1525/abt.2023.85.8.432
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: The American Biology Teacher
• 作者: Broder, E. Dale;Fetrow, Kirsten J.;Murphy, Shannon M.;Hoffman, Jennifer L.;Tinghitella, Robin M.
• 通讯作者: Tinghitella, Robin M.