CAREER: Functional genomic architecture and population differentiation of a polygenic and sexually dimorphic butterfly mimicry phenotype

多基因适应是指种群通过分布在整个基因组中的许多基因座的进化而适应。这种类型的适应被预测为生物体对选择压力做出反应的最常见方式。尽管这一过程的重要性，我们仍然知道相对较少的机制，多基因性状适应。此外，研究人员对新的多基因性状对种群分化和物种形成的影响知之甚少。为了解决这些不足之处，这项工作将侧重于三个目标。首先，它将揭示模式蝴蝶物种中基因型-表型图谱变化的分子机制。其次，研究将把发现的机制与推动适应的人口规模过程联系起来。第三，研究多基因性状适应对种群分化和物种形成的影响。除了研究目标，这项工作还将为来自EPSCoR州的本科生提供沉浸式的夏季研究体验。最后，该项目还将支持在南卡罗来纳州植物园的蝴蝶图尔斯导游。更具体地说，这项研究将使用综合功能和定量基因组学方法来探索蝴蝶翅膀的颜色和图案。这一策略将有助于确定在男性个体中发现的多基因和多态性表型的遗传结构。这项工作将使用人口基因组学来确定这种多态性的适应性增益的进化过程。最后，这项工作将测试有关这种表型在多大程度上推动种群分化的假设。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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。

Polygenic adaptation occurs when populations adapt via the evolution of many loci spread throughout the genome. This type of adaptation is predicted to be the most common way that organisms respond to selective pressures. Despite the importance of this process, we still know relatively little about the mechanisms that underlie polygenic trait adaptation. In addition, researchers know little about the impact novel polygenic traits have on population divergence and speciation. To address these deficiencies, this work will focus on three aims. First, it will uncover the molecular mechanisms that underlie change of the genotype-to-phenotype map in a model butterfly species. Second, the research will connect the discovered mechanisms to the population-scale processes driving adaptation. Third, the work will investigate the impact of polygenic trait adaptation on population divergence and speciation. In addition to the research goals, the work will also provide immersive summer-long research experiences for undergraduates from EPSCoR states. Finally, the project will also support guided butterfly tours at the South Carolina Botanical Garden.More specifically, this research will use integrative functional and quantitative genomics approaches to explore butterfly wing color and patterning. This strategy will aid in identifying the genetic architecture of a polygenic and polymorphic phenotype found in male individuals. The work will then use population genomics to determine the evolutionary processes that underlie the adaptive gain of this polymorphism. Finally, the work will test hypotheses about the extent to which this phenotype is driving population differentiation.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.