The Evolution of Trade-offs: Experimental Evaluation of Novel Quantitative Genetic Predictions

进化的特点是生物体生物学的各个方面随着时间的推移而发生变化。有限的资源和共享的潜在遗传和发展途径导致性状之间的权衡。这种权衡在多大程度上限制了进化的方向和速度，这是现代进化生物学的一个核心问题。研究人员使用数量遗传学的数学框架来解决这个问题。他们将沙蟋蟀的繁殖和飞行能力之间的权衡作为模型系统，并在实验室中使用人工选择来强迫组成特征的进化。该实验将首次对涉及关键生活史权衡的性状的联合进化进行定量和机制评估，并将显著促进我们对有机体水平上进化过程的理解。除了为许多研究生和本科生提供研究和技术培训外，该项目还将以一套新的复制选定品系的形式创建重要的新生物基础设施。这些将通过新创建的“实验进化综合研究计划”（IRPEE）广泛提供，并将为行为生态学、生理学、形态计量学和进化遗传学等不同领域的新研究项目提供框架。这些进化谱系的可用性也将支持国际合作，包括目前与芬兰、法国和智利的研究人员的合作。

Evolution is characterized by changes over time in all aspects of the biology of organisms. Limited resources and shared underlying genetic and developmental pathways generate trade-offs among traits. The extent to which such trade-offs constrain the direction and rate of evolution is a central question in modern evolutionary biology. The investigators address this question using the mathematical framework of quantitative genetics. They use the well-characterized trade-off between reproduction and flight capability in the sand cricket as a model system, and use artificial selection in the laboratory to force evolution of the component traits. The experiment will provide the first quantitative and mechanistic evaluation of the joint evolution of traits involved in a key life history trade-off, and will significantly advance our understanding of the process of evolution at the organismal level. In addition to providing research and technical training for many graduate and undergraduate students, this project will create significant new biological infrastructure in the form of a new set of replicated selected lines. These will be made widely available through the newly created "Integrated Research Program in Experimental Evolution" (IRPEE) and will provide the framework for new research projects in fields as diverse as behavioral ecology, physiology, morphometrics, and evolutionary genetics. The availability of these evolved lineages will also support international collaborations, including current collaborations with researchers from Finland, France and Chile.