Gene Flow and Species Diversity in Deep-Sea Hydothermal Vent Communities

9633131要求为与大洋中脊系统和深海同源环境有关的生物的遗传研究提供弗利耶霍克资金。这项研究的主要目标是：(1)考察快速和缓慢扩展的脊轴对种内系统地理、扩散模式和基因流动速度的空间和时间影响；(2)继续研究来自深海热液喷口的生物和其他减少环境(如冷水硫化物/甲烷渗漏、鲸鱼坠落等)中的同源群落之间的进化关系。由于之前的海洋探险，罗格斯大学已经收集了大量来自东太平洋快速扩张的海脊系统的冰冻标本。这些生物一直是正在进行的基因流动和扩散模式研究的重点。为了验证脊系的扩散速率在塑造生态和进化过程中起主导作用的假设，将对来自缓慢扩散系统(中大西洋海脊)和超快扩散系统(南东太平洋隆起)的生物进行比较研究。此外，由于在过去几年中描述了许多新的种群和新的形态种，正在进行的关于排气和渗漏的双壳软体动物的分子系统研究将继续进行。特别是一些囊泡菌类文蛤，似乎分布广泛，跨越大洋盆地和陆地扩散障碍。由于这些研究的目的是获得用于种群水平和系统发育分析的多位点系谱信息，因此采用了各种遗传技术(例如，等位酶、线粒体DNA和匿名核DNA的限制分析，以及聚合酶链式反应扩增基因的测序)。首席调查人员可以部分使用自动测序设施。这些拟议的研究将提供影响生活在这些不寻常的深海环境中的优势物种的生态、地质和进化过程的综合图景。目前的研究已经产生了对无脊椎动物系统学和种群遗传学的学生广泛使用的分子标记。这项研究的生物多样性方面得到了一个补充奖(NIH)的认可，以促进向对海洋天然产品发现感兴趣的缔约方转让材料和技术。

9633131 Vrijenhoek Funding is requested for genetic studies of organisms associated with mid-ocean ridge systems and cognate environments in the deep sea. The primary objectives of the study are: (1) to examine spatial and temporal effects of fast- versus slow-spreading ridge axes on intraspecific phylogeography, patterns of dispersal, and rates of gene flow; and (2) to continue our studies of evolutionary relationships among organisms from deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cognate communities in other reducing environments (e.g., cold-water sulfide/methane seeps, whale fall, etc.). As a result of previous oceanic expeditions, an extensive collection of frozen specimens from fast-spreading ridge systems in the eastern Pacific already exists at Rutgers University. These organisms have been the focus of ongoing studies of gene flow and patterns of dispersal. To test the hypothesis that the spreading rate of a ridge system plays a dominant role in shaping ecological and evolutionary processes, comparative studies will be conducted with organisms from a slow-spreading system (the Mid-Atlantic Ridge) and a super fast-spreading system (the southern East Pacific Rise). Additionally, ongoing molecular systematic studies of vent and seep bivalve mollusks will be continued, as many new populations and new morphospecies have been described during the last several years. Some of the vesicomyid clam species, in particular, appear to wide distributions that span oceanic basins and terrestrial barriers to dispersal. As the goal of these studies is to obtain multi-locus genealogical information for population level and phylogenetic analyses, a variety of genetic techniques are employ ed (e.g., allozymes, restriction analysis of mitochondrial DNA and anonymous nuclear DNAs, and sequencing of PCR amplified genes). Partial use of an automated sequencing facility is available to the principal investigators. These proposed studies will provide a comprehensive picture of ecological, geological, and evolutionary processes affecting the dominant species that live in these unusual abyssal environments. Present research already has produced molecular markers that are of broad use for students of invertebrate systematics and population genetics. The biodiversity aspects of this research have been recognized with a supplementary award (NIH) to facilitate materials and technology transfer to parties interested in marine natural products discovery.