Speciation in soda lake cichlids: ecological and genomic characterisation of reproductive barriers

物种形成，即新物种的形成，是理解生物多样性产生的基础。生活在极端环境中的生物是研究对不断变化的环境的适应的极佳候选者。水生生物在过去几十年中经历的前所未有的压力使得从进化的角度确定使一些物种能够在自然发生的不利环境中生存甚至形成物种的机制变得重要。慈鱼是物种形成和适应性辐射研究的模式系统。在这个项目中，我们重点关注生活在东非小苏打湖Natron和Magadi的慈鱼物种。这些湖泊的特点是极端的水生条件，高pH值(8.8-10.2)，高盐度和高温(30-430摄氏度)。然而令人惊讶的是，四种密切相关的苏打湖柔鱼在这些水域中繁衍生息。地质证据表明，这些物种可能在短短10,000年的时间内进化。这一项目提供了一个新的机会来描述同域苏打湖柔鱼物种之间存在的繁殖障碍。该项目提供了很高的培训价值，将行为实验、实验室工作、高通量测序和生物信息学与在非洲进行实地考察以收集更多样本的机会结合起来。

Speciation, the formation of new species, is fundamental to understanding thegeneration of biodiversity. Organisms that live in extreme environments makeexcellent candidates for investigating adaptation to a changing environment.The unprecedented stresses experienced by aquatic organisms in the lastdecades make it important to determine, from an evolutionary perspective, themechanisms enabling some species to survive and even speciate in naturallyoccurring adverse environments. Cichlid fishes are a model system for speciation and adaptive radiation research.In this project we focus on cichlid species that inhabit the small East Africansoda lakes Natron and Magadi. These lakes are characterised by extreme aquaticconditions of high pH (8.8-10.2), high salinity and high temperatures (30-430C).Yet surprisingly, four closely-related soda lake cichlids thrive in these waters.Geological evidence suggests that these species may have evolved over as shorta period of time as 10,000 years.This project offers the novel opportunity to characterise the barriers toreproduction that exist among the sympatric soda lake cichlid species. Thisproject offers high training value, combining behavioural experiments,laboratory work, high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics withopportunities for fieldwork in Africa for additional sample collection.