COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Evolutionary Dynamics and Molecular Analysis of Reproductive Diapause in Drosophila Melanogaster

本研究的目的是在分子和整体水平上了解模式生物黑腹果蝇滞育（生殖静止）的适应动力学。这一特性对季节性环境下昆虫的适应性和种群动态至关重要，我们在之前的工作中最近发现了一个滞育的候选基因。具体目的是研究：1)为什么在野生种群中滞育表型随环境可预测地变化；2)滞育表型变异的分子基础；3)各种进化力量对所鉴定的滞育基因的历史和当代作用。这项研究将包括实地和实验室的实验，以及详细的分子和遗传分析。黑腹龙的滞育是研究生物如何适应气候变化的一个很好的系统。滞育对其他性状有广泛的影响，包括寿命和衰老特征，本研究将有助于理解寿命和衰老的遗传控制。许多农业害虫发生滞育，该模式生物的信息可直接应用于农业害虫种群控制。此外，这些研究对理解新环境下的进化、对气候变化的进化反应以及其他生物的遗传权衡具有重要意义。

The goal of this research is to understand, at both the molecular and whole-organism levels, the adaptive dynamics of diapause (reproductive quiescence) in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. This trait is central to fitness and population dynamics of insects in seasonal environments, and a candidate gene for diapause was recently identified in our previous work. The specific aims are to examine: 1) why the phenotype of diapause varies predictably with environment in wild populations; 2) the molecular basis of variation for the diapause phenotype; and 3) the historical and contemporaneous action of various evolutionary forces on the identified gene for diapause. This research would involve experimentation in the field and laboratory as well as detailed molecular and genetic analyses.Diapause in D. melanogaster is an excellent system for investigating how organisms adapt to climatic variation. Diapause has wide-ranging effects on other traits including lifespan and aging profiles, and this research would contribute to the understanding of the genetic control of lifespan and senescence. Many agricultural pest insects diapause, and information from this model organism could be directly applied and provide insights into means for population control of pest insects. In addition, these investigations have bearing on understanding evolution in novel environments, evolutionary response to climate change, and genetic tradeoffs in other organisms.