Evolution of Phenotype-Specific Genes in Social Insects

生物体可以通过改变它们激活的基因来改变它们的物理形态。然而，塑造以不同形式激活的基因的进化力量仍不清楚。这项研究计划的目的是更好地了解自然选择如何影响不同形式之间差异激活的基因。古德斯曼和易将使用群居昆虫作为研究这个问题的模型。他们将使用分子遗传技术来检测不同社会昆虫种姓和性别之间差异激活的基因。然后，他们将使用进化分析来(1)测试种姓特定基因激活对分子进化的影响，以及(2)测试不同交配系统对性别特定基因进化的影响。这项研究具有广泛的科学意义，因为它促进了我们对导致不同生物形式发展的基因进化的理解。古德斯曼和易将揭示在不同环境条件下表达的基因是如何进化的。他们的研究还将增加我们对性别差异进化的了解。最后，这项研究增加了我们对群居昆虫成功背后的分子基础的理解，群居昆虫是生态上最成功、经济上最重要的动物物种之一。

Organisms can alter their physical form by varying the genes that they activate. However, the evolutionary forces that shape genes activated in different forms remain unclear. The objective of this research program is to gain a greater understanding of how natural selection affects genes that are differentially activated between forms. Goodisman and Yi will use social insects as models for investigating this question. They will use molecular genetic techniques to detect genes differentially activated between different social insect castes and sexes. They will then use evolutionary analyses to (1) test the effect of caste-specific gene activation on molecular evolution and (2) test the effect of differing mating system on the evolution of sex-specific genes. This research is of broad scientific importance because it advances our understanding of the evolution of genes that lead to the development of different organismal forms. Goodisman and Yi will uncover how genes that are expressed under distinct environmental conditions evolve. Their studies will also add to our knowledge of the evolution of sex differences. Finally, this research increases our understanding of the molecular basis underlying the success of social insects, which are among the most ecologically successful and economically important of animal species.