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

关键词：进化生物学；生态学摘要：在动物生命树的所有分支中，色彩在大多数物种的生态学和生活史中扮演着关键的角色。两栖动物呈现出一些在动物身上发现的最引人注目的颜色模式，但这种变异背后的分子机制仍然是所有脊椎动物中最不被了解的。火蜥蜴体内的特殊腺体会产生有毒的分泌物，它们用这些腺体来防御捕食者。此外，它们的颜色和图案在不同的血统中也是出了名的不同。然而，尽管数百年来对火蜥蜴进行了大量的研究，但颜色、环境和毒性之间的关系尚未建立起来。此外，导致当地颜色变化的进化和生态因素尚未确定。火蜥蜴在欧洲是一个主要的保护问题。如果环境在这种颜色的进化中起着重要的作用，最有兴趣的是了解这种机制的分子基础，以及它们对全球变暖的潜在反应，预计全球变暖将在未来几十年影响火蜥蜴的种群。这个项目将在我们理解适应、化学防御和着色的遗传基础方面开辟新的天地，使用火蜥蜴作为生物模型。将有机会开展关于火蜥蜴的实地和/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。

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.