The genetic basis of convergent evolution in tropical butterflies

热带蝴蝶趋同进化的遗传基础

• 批准号: 2607130
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of York
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2607130
• 关键词: genetic; basis; convergent; evolution; tropical

Mimicry is a striking form of convergent evolution in which multiple species converge on the same phenotype. Defensive mimicry is common across the tree of life, and particularly impressive examples come from tropical butterflies (e.g. Heliconius, ithomiine and Papilio species). Convergence may result from different species using the same alleles, the same genes, or using different genes. The genetic control of mimicry has been well studied in the Heliconius genus. But in the Neotropics, butterflies of the species-rich ithomiine tribe are thought to be the prime distasteful models in many cases of mimicry. Yet the genetic basis of mimicry in these important species is unknown. In this multidisciplinary project we will use range of techniques (tropical fieldwork in Ecuador and/orColombia, high-throughput sequencing, gene expression analysis and bioinformatics) to understand the genetic basis of mimicry in an important group of ithomiine butterflies. Training in these skills will be provided through the supervisory team in York/Sheffield/Paris and Project Partners in Ecuador and Colombia.

拟态是一种引人注目的趋同进化形式，其中多个物种趋同于相同的表型。防御性模仿在生命之树上很常见，尤其是热带蝴蝶（如Heliconius， ithomiine和Papilio）。趋同可能是由于不同的物种使用相同的等位基因，相同的基因，或使用不同的基因。拟态的遗传控制已被广泛研究。但在新热带地区，物种丰富的伊托胺族蝴蝶被认为是许多模仿案例中最令人反感的模型。然而，在这些重要的物种中，模仿的遗传基础是未知的。在这个多学科项目中，我们将使用一系列技术（在厄瓜多尔和/或哥伦比亚的热带田野调查、高通量测序、基因表达分析和生物信息学）来了解一种重要的亚胺蝴蝶类群的拟态遗传基础。这些技能的培训将通过约克/谢菲尔德/巴黎的监督小组和厄瓜多尔和哥伦比亚的项目合作伙伴提供。