解析色素细胞的基因网络变换对鱼类花纹形成的作用

The richness of diversified pigmentation patterns in fish in nature are important raw materials for natural selection and sexual selection. Therefore, the origin and evolution of animal skin pigmentation patterns are hot topics for a long time, not only in evolutionary biology, but also in the breeding of new varieties. The model species, zebrafish, is an ideal model to study pigmentation pattern formation, considering its diversified, observable and operable pigment cells in the skin stripe pattern. Although people tried to propose the mechanism for the stripe pattern formation in zebrafish based on mathematical model and cell behavior observation, the molecular basis behind it remains unknown. This is one of the important reasons why disputes happened between theoretical biologists and molecular biologists in this field. Therefore, in this project, we plan to use single cell sequencing technology, combining with evolutionary biology and bioinformatics analyses, to investigate the molecular basis behind the stripe pattern formation in zebrafish in a gene network level for the first time. The questions that we are interested in include the relationships among different pigment cells, the genetic basis behind different shapes of pigment cells, and how do they affect the stripe pattern formation in zebrafish. By integrating the molecular evidences into mathematical model, we can construct new models and develop new theory to explain the mechanism for fish pigmentation pattern formation. Our work will not only bridge the gap between theoretical biologists and molecular biologists in this field, but also provide important theoretical basis for further aquatic reproduction and new varieties breeding.

自然界中鱼类丰富多样的表皮花纹是自然选择和性选择的重要原材料，因此，表皮花纹的产生机制是进化生物学和新品种培育应用中的热点问题。鉴于模式生物斑马鱼表皮条纹色素细胞的多样性、易观察性和可操作性，因此是研究花纹形成的理想模型。尽管通过数学模型和细胞学观察人们初步提出了条纹形成机制，其分子基础却知之甚少。这也是目前理论生物学家和分子生物学家在该领域存有争议的重要原因之一。因此，本项目拟通过单细胞测序技术，结合进化生物学和生物信息学理论及分析方法，首次从单细胞整体基因调控网络层面，来探究斑马鱼不同色素细胞之间的亲缘关系、不同色素细胞形态的分子基础及其影响条纹形成的分子机制。通过将分子水平的证据整合进数学公式，从而有利于构建新的数学模型和提出新的理论来解释条纹形成机制。该研究结果将为该研究领域的理论生物学家和分子生物学家之间的沟通搭建起桥梁，并为水产养殖及新品种培育提供重要理论依据。

自然界中鱼类丰富多样的表皮花纹是自然选择和性选择的重要原材料。本项目跨学科结合生物信息学、细胞生物学、发育生物学和进化生物学，发现重要鱼类表皮细胞相关分子基础。包括鱼类特有扩增基因簇中基因在鱼类表皮细胞中的显著高表达，并在进化过程中受到了正选择压力，说明其具有重要的进化意义。发现和探究了一个鱼类特有未知功能的基因在表皮细胞中产生新功能的分子基础及进化意义。该基因上游区域进化出具有启动子功能的序列，能够驱动GFP荧光蛋白在表皮细胞中显著高表达。同时该基因编码区有非同义氨基酸突变位点受到了正选择压力，说明其在进化过程中的重要意义。这些研究结果将为水产养殖及新品种培育提供重要理论依据。

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