Rapid seasonal thermal adaptation in Chironomus riparius

每年有几代的物种可以在每一代经历非常不同的环境周期。对于许多变温动物来说，比如昆虫，温度是一个重要的环境因素。我们假设每年的温度波动可以驱动自然选择的循环，这对许多物种来说可能很重要。我们建议通过自然种群季节性重复样本的自然实验来解决这个问题，并使用基因组扫描来识别可能响应选择的遗传位点。我们将使用普通的花园实验和实验进化来证实选择作用于这些区域。这一实证研究将得到综合种群遗传、人口统计学和环境模型的支持和加强，以探索选择周期如何作用于基因组，并预测这将如何随着气候变暖而变化。我们将用不咬人的蠓（Chironomus riparius）进行这项研究。本种世代时间短，可在实验室饲养，可进行多代适应度实验。最重要的是，它的基因组已经被测序，一系列的基因组技术可以用来分析这个物种的基因组。

Species with several generations per year can experience cycles of very different environments in each generation. For many ectotherm species, like insects, temperature is an important environmental factor. We hypothesise that annual fluctuations in temperature can drive cycles of natural selection, and this might be important for many species. We propose to address this issue with a natural experiment of seasonally repeated samples of natural populations, and use genome scans to identify genetic loci that might be responding to selection. We will use common garden experiments and experimental evolution to confirm that selection is acting on these regions. This empirical research will be supported and enhanced by integrated population genetic, demographic and environmental modelling to explore how cycles of selection act on the genome, and to predict how this will change as the climate warms. We will perform this study with the non-biting midge, Chironomus riparius. This species has short generation times and can be reared in the laboratory, so multigeneration fitness experiments can be carried out. Most importantly, its genome has been sequenced and a range of genomic techniques can be sued to analyse the species' genome.