Tests of the predictability of population genetic structure and change in wild animal populations

野生动物种群遗传结构和变化的可预测性检验

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-05972
• 负责人: Garroway, Colin
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: University of Manitoba
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=651560
• 关键词: Tests; predictability; population; genetic; structure

Evolution is the result of changes in the genetic composition of populations through time. Many of the processes that cause population genetic change are intimately tied to ecological conditions. For example, environmental variation causes populations to drift apart genetically if it impedes movement and can cause populations to diverge adaptively if different traits are selected in different environments. Thus, understanding how ecology produces population genetic change is central to understanding evolutionary patterns in nature. My research integrates population genomics with evolutionary ecology to explain the ways that population genetic structures form, persist, collapse, and change through time. I willuse the colonisations of cities by grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) to address my questions. Urbanisation fragments populations, shapes dispersal patterns, alters selective pressures, and is replicated in space. This makes the colonisation of cities by grey squirrels an ideal setting to study contemporary evolution. ***This Discovery Grant cycle I will address questions about the early stages of the process of adaptive population divergence. I will explore: 1) the predictability of selection on genetic variants; 2) whether, and by how much, populations can diverge while interbreeding with differently adapted populations; and 3) whether high recombination rates near putatively selected loci increase the efficiency of selection in new environments by exposing new gene combinations to selection.***Addressing these questions will require integrated analyses of genome-wide molecular markers, whole genome analyses, and intensive field based ecological study. Thus, my program will train highly qualified personnel in bioinformatics, statistical population genetics, population ecology, and field monitoring skills. We will sample squirrels from paired city-forest sites to quantify parallel selection, identify candidate loci for urban adaptation, and model the demographics of divergence. We will use data from intensive fieldwork at a focal site to model survival and reproduction contingent upon environments and genotypes. Then, with whole genome resequencing of individuals from this focal site we will test whether high recombination rates near candidate loci facilitate local adaptation.***By studying contemporary evolutionary change we will learn about the early stages of population divergence. Due to the extensive and accelerating effects of human activities on natural environments this research will also be important for conservation and management science. Urban land cover is predicted to triple between 2000 and 2030. Given the expansion and persistence of cities, understanding the evolutionary effects of urbanisation on natural populations will be important for planning to minimise the negative effects of human activities on natural populations.**

进化是种群遗传组成随时间变化的结果。许多导致种群遗传变化的过程与生态条件密切相关。例如，如果环境变化阻碍了迁移，它会导致种群在遗传上分离;如果在不同的环境中选择了不同的性状，它会导致种群适应性地分化。因此，理解生态学如何产生种群遗传变化是理解自然界进化模式的核心。我的研究将种群基因组学与进化生态学相结合，以解释种群遗传结构的形成，持续，崩溃和随时间变化的方式。我将用灰松鼠在城市的定居来回答我的问题。城市化使人口碎片化，形成分散模式，改变选择压力，并在空间中复制。这使得灰松鼠的城市殖民地成为研究当代进化的理想环境。* 在这个发现资助周期中，我将讨论有关适应性种群分化过程早期阶段的问题。我将探索：1）遗传变异选择的可预测性; 2）当与不同适应的种群杂交时，种群是否会分化，以及分化的程度如何; 3）在新的环境中，通过将新的基因组合暴露于选择，在新的选择位点附近的高重组率是否会增加选择的效率。解决这些问题将需要全基因组分子标记的综合分析，全基因组分析和密集的实地生态研究。因此，我的计划将培养高素质的人才在生物信息学，统计群体遗传学，种群生态学和现场监测技能。我们将从成对的城市森林地点对松鼠进行采样，以量化平行选择，确定城市适应的候选位点，并对差异的人口统计学进行建模。我们将使用密集的实地考察在一个焦点网站的数据模型生存和繁殖的环境和基因型。然后，通过对来自该焦点位点的个体进行全基因组重测序，我们将测试候选位点附近的高重组率是否有助于局部适应。通过研究当代的进化变化，我们将了解种群分化的早期阶段。由于人类活动对自然环境的广泛和加速影响，这项研究对保护和管理科学也很重要。预计2000年至2030年期间城市土地覆盖将增加两倍。考虑到城市的扩张和持久性，了解城市化对自然人口的进化影响对于规划最大限度地减少人类活动对自然人口的负面影响至关重要。