ANT LIA: Collaborative Research: Evolutionary Patterns and Mechanisms of Trait Diversification in the Antarctic Notothenioid Radiation

ANT LIA：合作研究：南极诺托尼类辐射特征多样化的进化模式和机制

• 批准号: 2324998
• 负责人: Jacob Daane
• 金额: $ 114.15万
• 依托单位: University of Houston
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-10-01 至 2025-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2324998&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: ANT; LIA; Collaborative; Research; Evolutionary

Part I: Nontechnical description The ecologically important notothenioid fish of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica will be studied to address questions central to polar, evolutionary, and adaptational biology. The rapid diversification of the notothenioids into 120 species following a period of Antarctic glaciation and cooling of the Southern Ocean is thought to have been facilitated by key evolutionary innovations, including antifreeze glycoproteins to prevent freezing and bone reduction to increase buoyancy. In this project, a large dataset of genomic sequences will be used to evaluate the genetic mechanisms that underly the broad pattern of novel trait evolution in these fish, including traits relevant to human diseases (e.g., bone density, renal function, and anemia). The team will develop new STEM-based research and teaching modules for undergraduate education at Northeastern University. The work will provide specific research training to scholars at all levels, including a post-doctoral researcher, a graduate student, undergraduate students, and high school students. The team will also contribute to public outreach, including, in part, the develop of teaching videos in molecular evolutionary biology and accompanying educational supplements.Part II: Technical descriptionThe researchers will leverage their comprehensive notothenioid phylogenomic dataset comprising 250,000 protein-coding exons and conserved non-coding elements across 44 ingroup and 2 outgroup species to analyze the genetic origins of three iconic notothenioid traits: (1) loss of erythrocytes by the icefish clade in a cold, stable and highly-oxygenated marine environment; (2) reduction in bone mass and retention of juvenile skeletal characteristics as buoyancy mechanisms to facilitate foraging; and (3) loss of kidney glomeruli to retain energetically expensive antifreeze glycoproteins. The team will first track patterns of change in erythroid-related genes throughout the notothenioid phylogeny. They will then examine whether repetitive evolution of a pedomorphic skeleton in notothenioids is based on parallel or divergent evolution of genetic regulators of heterochrony. Third, they will determine whether there is mutational bias in the mechanisms of loss and re-emergence of kidney glomeruli. Finally, identified genetic mechanisms of evolutionary change will be validated by experimental testing using functional genomic strategies in the zebrafish model system.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.

第一部分：非技术描述将研究南极洲周围南大洋中具有重要生态意义的无尾类鱼类，以解决极地、进化和适应生物学的核心问题。在经历了一段时间的南极冰川和南大洋降温后，类石斑鱼迅速多样化为120个物种，人们认为这是由关键的进化创新推动的，包括防止冻结的抗冻糖蛋白和减少骨骼以增加浮力。在这个项目中，将使用大量基因组序列来评估这些鱼类新特征进化的广泛模式下的遗传机制，包括与人类疾病相关的特征(例如，骨密度、肾功能和贫血)。该团队将为东北大学的本科教育开发基于STEM的新研究和教学模块。这项工作将为各级学者提供具体的研究培训，包括博士后研究员、研究生、本科生和高中生。该团队还将为公众宣传做出贡献，包括部分开发分子进化生物学的教学视频和配套的教育补充材料。第二部分：技术说明研究人员将利用他们全面的诺氏类系统基因组数据库，包括44个组内和2个外组物种的250,000个蛋白质编码外显子和保守的非编码元件，来分析三个标志性的诺氏类特征的遗传起源：(1)在寒冷、稳定和高氧的海洋环境中，冰鱼支系导致红细胞损失；(2)骨量减少和幼年骨骼特征的保留作为浮力机制，以促进觅食；以及(3)肾小球的丢失，以保留昂贵的抗冻糖蛋白。该团队将首先跟踪红系相关基因在整个诺氏系统发育过程中的变化模式。然后，他们将研究在脊椎动物中多形骨架的重复进化是基于异时性遗传调控因子的平行进化还是发散进化。第三，他们将确定肾小球丢失和重新出现的机制是否存在突变偏见。最后，已确定的进化变化的遗传机制将通过在斑马鱼模型系统中使用功能基因组策略进行实验测试来验证。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。