An evo-devo approach to invasive biology and adaption to climate change

预测物种将如何应对气候变化，了解入侵生物学以帮助补救，这些都是与进化和发展过程内在联系在一起的主题。为了预测适应潜力或“可进化性”，必须了解发育编程的性状的遗传控制及其在密切相关物种内部和物种之间的自然变异[1,2]。通过将进化生物学和发育生物学结合起来研究，并比较密切相关物种之间的结果，进化-发展领域为产生这种理解提供了丰富的例子。获得以前局限于“模型”系统的新方法，即进化-发展领域现在在“非模型”群体中率先使用的方法，为环境研究带来了巨大的希望。福尼卡Crepidula fornicata是英国的入侵物种，它正在破坏渔业、栖息地和生物多样性，预计随着海洋变暖，其分布将向极地转移，进入苏格兰水域。它也是一种海洋钙化剂，居住在易受气候变化（如变暖和海洋酸化）影响的沿海地区。最近的OA实验表明，C. fornicata对严重酸化的条件具有惊人的弹性。这些发现，结合该物种的胚胎学研究历史，使其成为探索恢复力和适应气候变化问题的理想系统。该项目将采用强有力的发展-发展方法，并将其应用于具有重大环境意义的问题。它将比较C. fornicata的壳发育与Crepidula属中三个密切相关的物种，以解决以下问题：与最接近的非侵入性亲属相比，什么发育机制使其具有侵袭性？哪些发育机制调节了壳的特性（强度、微观结构和厚度），从而使圆孔螺相对于其最接近的亲属具有更好的适应海洋酸化和气候变化的能力？

The Evo-Devo ApproachPredicting how species will fare with climate change and understanding invasive biology to aid remediation and are themes intrinsically coupled to evolutionary and developmental processes. In order to predict adaptation potential or 'evolvability' the genetic control of a trait, which is developmentally programmed, and its natural variation within and between closely related species must be understood [1,2]. By studying evolutionary and developmental biology together, and comparing results between closely related species, the evo-devo field provides rich examples of generating such understanding. Access to new methods previously constrained to 'model' systems, that the evo-devo field is now pioneering in 'non-model' groups, holds great promise for environmental research.Crepidula fornicata is invasive to the UK, it is damaging fisheries, habitats and biodiversity and is predicted to have a poleward shift in distribution, into Scottish waters, with oceanic warming. It is also a marine calcifier inhabiting coastal regions vulnerable to climatic changes such as warming and ocean acidification (OA). Recent OA experiments have shown C. fornicata are surprisingly resilient to severely acidified conditions. These findings, in combination with the history of embryological study in this species, makes it an ideal system to probe questions of resilience and adaptation to climate change.This project will take the powerful evo-devo approach and apply it to questions of major environmental significance. It will compare shell development in C. fornicata to three closely related species within the genus Crepidula to address the following questions:1.) What developmental mechanisms make C. fornicata invasive compared to its most closely related non-invasive relatives?2.) What developmental mechanisms regulate the shell traits (strength, microstructures and thickness) that give C. fornicata superior resilience to ocean acidification and climate change compared to its most closely related relatives?