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: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=631681
• 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.

我的研究项目侧重于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，我研究个体之间的遗传差异如何导致其外观（表型）和后代数量和生存（适合度）的变化。其次，我确定这些基因差异是如何在种群之间被分割的，当它们开始在基因上分化成不同的物种。我研究了来自冰岛的不同形式的北极木炭，它们在大小、外观、摄食习惯和生态上都有所不同，并共同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产生的方式，并研究这些形式在新物种起源中的作用。北极炭黑由于其显著的表型和遗传多样性以及产生实验家族的能力，继续成为这项工作的模型。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黑外观的基因，以及它们的外观是如何通过自然选择的进化媒介形成的。首先，我们将确定我们是否在湖泊中看到相同的形态外观和基因型模式。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。这项研究将在三年内对冰岛两个湖泊的鱼进行取样，观察具有典型形态外观的鱼在特定年龄是否更大，雌性鱼在成熟时是否有更大的卵巢和更多的卵。第三，我们将寻找影响身体形态以及单个头部骨骼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木炭的这些形态是否进化稳定，或者我们是否正在目睹新物种的诞生等问题至关重要。