Collaborative Research: Genetic Basis of Behavioral Evolution in Zebrafish

一、智力价值：将进行斑马鱼自然种群之间的行为差异，为未来使用这种模式生物回答有关行为进化的遗传基础的问题奠定基础。调查人员将前往印度，对斑马鱼的自然栖息地进行初步调查，确定可能对行为多样化特别重要的环境特征。来自两个种群的野生捕获的鱼将在实验室中被确定为新的品系，并进行行为特征分析。野生型品系之间的行为差异将与现有实验室品系斑马鱼在一般活动、社会行为(浅滩和攻击性)、捕食者反应(表面取向、接近捕食者)和应激反应(惊吓行为和从干扰中恢复)方面的差异进行比较。这些结果将为未来利用杂交和基因组图谱技术进行基因研究奠定基础，以确定类似的行为差异是否与类似的基因变化有关。更广泛的影响：该项目将开始为其他研究人员(如遗传学家、发育生物学家)编制和传播一系列行为规程。研究人员还将继续与一组高中教师合作，开发和测试基于斑马鱼行为遗传学的探究性课程材料。将建立两个新的野生型斑马鱼品系，并向斑马鱼种群中心捐赠。

I. Intellectual Merit:Behavioral differences between natural populations of zebrafish will be conducted to lay the groundwork for future use of this model organism to answer questions about the genetic basis of behavioral evolution. Investigators will travel to India to conduct preliminary investigations of zebrafish natural habitats, identifying environmental features that may be particularly important to behavioral diversification. Wild-caught fish from two populations will be established as new strains in the lab and behaviorally characterized. Behavioral differences between wild-type strains will be compared to differences already observed between existing laboratory strains of zebrafish in general activity, social behavior (shoaling and aggression), predator response (surface orientation, proximity to predator), and stress response (startle behavior and recovery from disturbance). The results will set the stage for future genetic research using crosses and genomic mapping techniques to determine whether similar behavioral differences are associated with similar genetic changes. II. Broader Impact:This project will begin to produce and disseminate a collection of behavioral protocols for other researchers (e.g., geneticists, developmental biologists). Researchers will also continue to work with a team of high-school teachers to develop and to test inquiry-oriented curricular materials based on zebrafish behavioral genetics. Two new wild-type strains of zebrafish will be established and contributed to the Zebrafish Stock Center.