端黑萤闪光求偶信号分化机制的研究

生物多样性是人类社会赖以生存和发展的基础。物种多样性是生物多样性的核心，物种多样性的形成机制是生物多样性保护及可持续利用的理论基础。萤火虫（鞘翅目：萤科）是一类重要的环境指示生物及观赏资源昆虫。在求偶和性选择过程中，大部分萤火虫依靠种特异性的闪光求偶信号进行两性交流。萤火虫种内和种间的闪光求偶信号分化机制尚不清楚。目前发现端黑萤同一种群内雄萤分化出具有显著差异的快、慢频率的两种闪光求偶信号，该行为性状可稳定遗传。申请者根据此现象提出以下科学问题：端黑萤闪光求偶信号分化的机制是什么？本项目拟通过对端黑萤发出快、慢频率闪光求偶信号的个体进行遗传杂交和性选择分析，在此基础上通过比较形态学、比较基因组学、重测序、比较转录组学以及行为遗传学等方法进行探索研究，对萤火虫闪光求偶信号的分化机制进行多角度的探索，为生物多样性形成机制、保护及可持续利用理论体系提供基础数据。

Bio-diversity is the essential to exist and development of human society. Species diversity is the core of bio-diversity. How species diversity form is the basis of sustainable utilization of bio-diversity. Fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) are important bio-indicator of environment and economic insects. During courtship and sexual selection, most fireflies usually species-specific flash signals to communicate. The mechanism of differentiation of inter or intra flash courtship signals remains unknown. Firefly Abscondita chinensis, which is common and wide-spread in China, was discovered that males had two types of flash courtship signals respectively, namely fast rate and slow rate within one population. Those two behavioral phenotypes exist stably in the population. The question is how those two types of flash signals differentiated? The project apply methods of hybridization and sexual selection, plus comparative morphology, genome assembly (de nove) and re-sequencing, comparative transcriptomics and behavioral genetics, aims to explore the mechanism of differentiation of intra-species flash courtship signals. This research is important to the research of form, conservation and sustainable utilization of bio-diversity.