Environmental and genetic components of a major evolutionary transition: social plasticity in halictine bees.

重大进化转变的环境和遗传组成部分：halictine 蜜蜂的社会可塑性。

• 批准号: NE/C520439/1
• 负责人: Jeremy Field
• 金额: $ 26.4万
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2006 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FC520439%2F1
• 关键词: Environmental; genetic; components; major; evolutionary

The evolution of sociality is one of the major transitions in evolutionary biology. The key testing ground for theories concerning the origin of helping have been primitively eusocial taxa, in which behaviour is highly plastic. Social phenotype varies within these species, both temporally and spatially, from non-social to fully eusocial. Differences in social phenotype are correlated with factors such as latitude, altitude and habitat features. Yet the extent to which differences are genetically based, or represent condition-sensitive phenotypic expression, is almost unknown. Our research will use a combination of large-scale manipulative field experiments and molecular genetic analyses: (1) To test whether inter-population variation in social phenotype represents genetic differentiation or is a phenotypic response to environmental conditions. (2) To investigate the transition between social phenotypes along an environmental gradient. (3) To quantify the degree of reproductive isolation between the two social forms at a transition zone between them. (4) To test whether social populations form a grouping distinct from non-social populations in an intraspecific phylogeny. The work will involve a collaboration between researchers at University College London and Queen's University Belfast, employing a postdoctoral researcher and a 75% time technician. The study system will be British populations of sweat bees.

社会性的进化是进化生物学中的一个主要转变。关于帮助起源的理论的关键试验场一直是竞争性的真社会分类群，其中行为具有高度的可塑性。这些物种的社会表型在时间和空间上都有所不同，从非社会性到完全社会性。社会表型的差异与纬度、海拔和栖息地特征等因素有关。然而，差异在多大程度上是基于遗传的，或代表条件敏感的表型表达，几乎是未知的。我们的研究将采用大规模的田间操作实验和分子遗传学分析相结合的方法：（1）检验群体间社会表型的变异是遗传分化还是对环境条件的表型反应。(2)探讨社会表型之间的过渡沿着环境梯度。(3)在两种社会形态之间的过渡区，量化两种社会形态之间的生殖隔离程度。(4)为了测试是否社会群体形成一个不同于非社会群体在一个种内生殖的分组。这项工作将涉及伦敦大学学院和贝尔法斯特女王大学的研究人员之间的合作，雇用一名博士后研究人员和75%的时间技术人员。研究系统将是英国的汗蜂种群。