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

当种群通过遍布整个基因组的多个基因座的进化来适应时，就发生了多基因适应。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。尽管这一过程很重要，但我们仍然对多基因性状适应的机制知之甚少。此外，研究人员对新的多基因特征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，这项工作将集中于三个目标。首先，它将揭示模式蝴蝶物种从基因型到表型映射变化的分子机制。其次，这项研究将把已发现的机制与推动适应的人口规模过程联系起来。第三，这项工作将调查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EPSCoR州的本科生提供身临其境的夏季研究体验。最后，该项目还将支持南卡罗来纳州植物园的蝴蝶导游。更具体地说，这项研究将使用整合的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表型的遗传结构。然后，这项工作将使用种群基因组学来确定这种多态的适应性收益背后的进化过程。最后，这项工作将测试关于这种表型在多大程度上推动人口分化的假设。这一奖项反映了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。

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.