Evolution and Genetics of Behavior

9724037史蒂文斯行为影响个体和种群的生死和生殖特征，了解它们的表达和进化是很重要的。理解行为的表达需要了解行为的遗传基础、行为的生理基础、行为与适应度的关系以及自然选择对行为的影响。这项研究将使用昆虫模型系统来了解遗传学、生理学和选择在困惑的粉甲虫的一种行为-吃人行为的表达中所起的作用。由于行为可能由其他特征决定，或与其他特征高度相关--包括基本的生理过程，如代谢率或呼吸率--呼吸率和表面行为的遗传基础和选择(即，甲虫倾向于在面粉表面而不是在面粉介质中隧道)也将被研究。使用高同类和低同类品系，实验将通过创建具有不同同类基因频率的种群并跟踪等位基因频率随时间的变化来确定在给定环境中是否存在一种行为的单一最佳表达。统计分析将被用来确定选择过程与随机过程在行为进化中的相对重要性。这项拟议的研究还将检验赖特转移平衡理论中有争议的、几乎未经检验的部分，即种群通过种群间的迁移从一种适应行为策略转移到另一种适应行为策略的合理性。遗传分析将利用分子遗传学的最新发展，包括数量性状基因座(QTL)分析。将构建一个T.conusum基因组的分子遗传图谱，并用于鉴定基因组中与行为和生理特征相关的区域。这项研究是对行为遗传学和进化生物学的重要贡献，因为它检验了关于行为的适应意义以及它们的遗传基础和进化的常见假设。

9724037 Stevens Behaviors affect life, death and reproductive characters of individuals and populations and it is important to understand their expression and evolution. Understanding the expression of a behavior requires understanding the genetic basis of the behavior, the physiological basis of the behavior, the relationship between the behavior and fitness as well as effect of natural selection on the behavior. This research will use an insect model system to understand the role of genetics, physiology and selection in the expression of a behavior - cannibalism behavior in the confused flour beetle Tribolium confusum. Because behaviors are likely to be determined by or highly correlated with other traits - including basic physiological processes such as metabolic rate or respiration rate - the genetic basis of and selection on respiration rate and surface behavior (i.e., the tendency of beetles to be on the flour surface rather than tunneling in the flour media) will also be examined. Using high and low cannibalism strains, experiments will determine if there is single optimum expression of a behavior in a given environment, by creating populations with differing allele frequencies of cannibalism genes and tracking the change in allele frequencies over time. Statistical analysis will be used to determine the relative importance of selection vs random processes in behavior evolution. The proposed research will also examine the controversial, virtually untested portion of Wright's shifting balance theory, namely the plausibility of a population moving from one adaptive behavior stratagy to another by migration among populations. The genetic analysis will be done using recent developments in molecular genetics including quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis. A molecular genetic map of the genome of T. confusum will be constructed and used to identify regions of the genome associated with the behavioral and physiological traits. This rese arch is an important contribution to both behavior genetics and evolutionary biology because it tests common assumptions made about the adaptive significance of behaviors, as well as their genetic basis and evolution.