Evolution of Development of Facial Bone Morphology in Threespine Stickleback

生物学家刚刚开始了解生物的不同方面的遗传基础，比如大小、形状和颜色等等。然而，大多数性状是复杂的，它们的发育受许多基因的影响，而这些基因的作用受环境条件的影响。这些对性状变异的综合影响必须通过细胞的身份和行为来调节，例如，一些细胞增殖更多以形成更大的软骨，或分泌额外的基质以形成更强壮的骨骼。然而，目前对细胞整合的精确机制知之甚少，填补这一知识空白是生物学中的一个基本问题，也是本项目的主要重点。三刺棘鱼的自然变异为解决这个问题提供了一个极好的机会。本研究的目的是了解细胞如何整合遗传和环境信息，并导致棘鱼种群中复杂的头部和下颌特征的变化。这些结构在个体、种群和物种之间差别很大。尽管存在这种多样性，但所有脊椎动物在头和颚结构的发育中都有保守的遗传相互作用。因此，对这些特征的研究有助于了解棘背动物的情况，也对其他脊椎动物（如人类）类似结构的正确发育提供了大量信息。这些情况是许多基因及其与环境相互作用的产物，并导致细胞身份或行为的变化（即癌症中不受控制的细胞生长）。这项研究将更好地理解复杂特征的遗传和细胞基础，无论是对棘鱼重要的特征，还是最常见的人类疾病类型。此外，阿拉斯加安克雷奇大学与实验室合作研究阿拉斯加棘鱼种群，该大学有大量的阿拉斯加土著学生，并且存在独特的机会，将这个代表性不足的群体中的个体纳入研究和教育活动。此外，一个使用棘鱼的教育网站为世界各地的教育工作者和研究人员提供必要的知识和技能，以了解和研究棘鱼。

Biologists are just beginning to understand the genetic basis of variable aspects of or-ganisms such as size, shape and color, to name a few. However, most traits are com-plex, their development directed by many genes whose effects are influenced by environmental conditions. These combined effects on trait variation must be mediated through the identity and behavior of cells such that, for example, some cells proliferate more to make larger cartilages, or excrete additional matrix to make stronger bones. However, little is presently known about the precise mechanisms of cellular integration, and filling this gap in knowledge is a fundamental problem in biology and is the primary focus of this project. Natural variation in threespine stickleback fish provides an excel-lent opportunity to address this question. The goal of this research is to understand how cells integrate genetic and environmental information and lead to variation in complex head and jaw traits among populations of stickleback. These structures vary tremen-dously among individuals, populations and species. Despite this diversity, all vertebrates share conserved genetic interactions for the development of head and jaw struc-tures. Thus, research on these traits is useful for understanding the situation in stickle-backs, and is also highly informative about the proper development of similar structures in other vertebrates such as humans. These conditions are the product of many genes and their interactions with the envi-ronment, and lead to variations in cellular identities or behaviors (i.e. uncontrolled cell growth in cancer). This research will provide a much better understanding of the genetic and cellular basis of complex traits, be they characters important for stickleback, or the most common types of human diseases. In addition, Alaskan stickleback populations are studied in collaboration with laboratories at the University of Alaska Anchorage, which has a large Alaska Native student population, and the unique opportunity exists to include individuals in this underrepresented group into research and educational activi-ties. Furthermore, an educational website is maintained that uses stickleback to provide educators and researchers around the world with knowledge and skills necessary to learn about and perform research with stickleback.