Genetic mechanisms of amphibian colour pattern and toxicity in the natural environment

自然环境中两栖动物颜色模式和毒性的遗传机制

• 批准号: 2749390
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Glasgow
• 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-2749390
• 关键词: Genetic; mechanisms; amphibian; colour; pattern

Keywords: Evolutionary biology; ecologyAbstract: Colouration plays a key role in the ecology and life history of most species across all branches of the animal tree of life. Amphibians present some of the most striking colour patterns found in animals, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this variation have remained among the most poorly understood of any vertebrate. Fire salamanders endogenously produce poisonous secretions from specialised glands that they use in predator defence. Additionally, they are famously variable in colour and pattern across lineages. Yet despite a considerable body of research on salamanders over hundreds of years, the relationships between colour, the environment, and toxicity has not been established. Further, the evolutionary and ecological factors that drive local colour variations have not been determined. Fire salamanders in Europe are of major conservation concern. If the environment plays an important role on the evolution of such colourations, it is of outmost interest to understand the molecular basis of such mechanisms and their potential response to global warming that is predicted to affect salamander populations in the next decades. This project will break new ground in our understanding of adaptation, chemical defence, and the genetic basis of colouration, using fire salamanders as a biological model. There will be opportunities for field and/or experimental work with salamanders, molecular laboratory work, and advanced statistical and genomic data analysis.

关键词：进化生物学；摘要：在动物生命树的所有分支中，着色在大多数物种的生态学和生活史中起着关键作用。两栖动物呈现出一些在动物中发现的最引人注目的颜色模式，但这种变化背后的分子机制仍然是任何脊椎动物中最不为人所知的。火蝾螈内源性分泌有毒的分泌物，这些分泌物来自它们用来防御捕食者的特殊腺体。此外，它们在不同血统的颜色和图案上是出了名的多变。然而，尽管数百年来对蝾螈进行了大量研究，但颜色、环境和毒性之间的关系尚未确立。此外，驱动局部颜色变化的进化和生态因素尚未确定。欧洲的火蜥蜴是主要的保护问题。如果环境在这些颜色的进化中起着重要作用，那么了解这些机制的分子基础以及它们对全球变暖的潜在反应是最感兴趣的，预计全球变暖将在未来几十年影响蝾螈的数量。该项目将以火蝾螈为生物模型，在我们对适应、化学防御和着色遗传基础的理解方面开辟新天地。将有机会与蝾螈进行实地和/或实验工作，分子实验室工作，以及高级统计和基因组数据分析。