Evolutionary Genetics of Fishes

鱼类的进化遗传学

• 批准号: 3431-2013
• 负责人: Ferguson, Moira
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: University of Guelph
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=568294
• 关键词: Evolutionary; Genetics; Fishes

My research program focuses on understanding the genetic basis of evolutionary change in fishes. In particular I am concentrating on two major components of the evolutionary process. Firstly, I study how genetic differences among individuals lead to variation in their appearance (phenotype) and numbers and survival of their offspring (fitness). Secondly, I determine how those genetic differences can become partitioned between populations when they begin to diverge genetically into different species. I examine different forms (morphs) of Arctic charr from Iceland that differ in size, appearance, feeding habits and ecology, and live together in different lakes. In particular I am determining the way in which these different forms might have arisen, and also investigating the role of such forms in the origin of new species. Arctic charr continue to be models for this work because of their remarkable phenotypic and genetic diversity and the ability to produce experimental families. Knowledge of the genes that control the appearance of Arctic charr and how their appearance is shaped through the evolutionary agent of natural selection is needed to evaluate the role of such morph variation in population divergence. First, we will determine if we see the same patterns of morph appearance and their genotypes across lakes. Next, we will determine if natural selection favors fish with certain body shapes and sizes. This will involve sampling fish from two Icelandic lakes over three years and seeing if fish with typical morph appearance are larger at a given age and females have bigger ovaries and more eggs when they mature. Third, we will search for chromosomal regions that influence body morphology as well as the size and shape of individual bones of the head and see if the genes in these regions have been influenced by natural selection. The knowledge generated by this research is essential to tacking the question of whether these morphs of Arctic charr are evolutionarily stable or whether we are witnessing the birth of new species.

我的研究项目重点是了解鱼类进化变化的遗传基础。我特别关注进化过程的两个主要组成部分。首先，我研究了个体之间的遗传差异如何导致他们的外表(表型)、数量和后代的存活率(适应性)的变化。其次，我确定当这些遗传差异开始分化为不同的物种时，这些遗传差异如何在种群之间划分。我研究了来自冰岛的不同形式的北极炭，它们在大小、外观、食性和生态方面都不同，并且生活在不同的湖泊中。特别是，我正在确定这些不同形式可能出现的方式，并研究这些形式在新物种起源中的作用。北极木炭仍然是这项工作的模型，因为它们具有显着的表型和遗传多样性，以及产生实验家系的能力。 要评估这种形态变异在种群分化中的作用，需要了解控制北极炭素外观的基因，以及通过自然选择的进化因素如何塑造它们的外观。首先，我们将确定我们是否在湖泊中看到了相同的形态外观模式及其基因类型。接下来，我们将确定自然选择是否偏爱具有特定体型和大小的鱼类。这将涉及在三年内从冰岛的两个湖泊中采集鱼类样本，并观察具有典型形态的鱼在给定年龄时是否更大，以及雌性鱼成熟时卵巢更大，卵子更多。第三，我们将寻找影响身体形态以及头部个别骨骼的大小和形状的染色体区域，看看这些区域的基因是否受到自然选择的影响。这项研究产生的知识对于解决北极炭素的这些形态在进化上是否稳定，或者我们是否正在见证新物种的诞生的问题至关重要。