Collaborative Research: Causes and Consequences of Signal Evolution

摘要建议IOS-1052247大多数动物都有一套复杂的特征(特征)用于交流。例如，一块蓝色的皮肤信号斑块，需要动物有一只对蓝色波长的光敏感的眼睛。整合一系列相关性状的机制还没有得到很好的研究，对于这些复杂相关性的生理基础，以及机制如何在不同物种之间发生变化，人们知之甚少。该项目将详细说明这些相关特征背后的机制，以及它们可能如何被“拆分？在进化论上，通过研究Scelopus属(栅栏蜥蜴)中12个密切相关的蜥蜴物种，在这些物种中，有一种特定的新的交流特征有重复的起源。有关视觉和化学交流共同进化的生理和遗传机制的研究将评估与信号产生(例如分泌物的化学成分；皮肤细胞产生颜色；激素调节器)和信号接收(例如眼睛的颜色敏感性；鼻区感觉组织的化学敏感性)有关的特征。当研究物种密切相关时，PI还将开发必要的统计方法来分析相关性状的数据。由此产生的能够进行这种统计分析的软件将免费提供给其他研究人员在线使用。有各种各样的更广泛的影响。首先，本科生和研究生将接受生物化学、分子生物学、神经生理学、动物行为学、进化生物学和生物统计学方面的研究人员的培训并与他们合作。其次，资金将通过促进美国和墨西哥不同学科和机构的科学家之间的合作来加强研究和教育的基础设施，墨西哥也是许多研究物种的发源地。第三，通过与两个印第安纳州科学博物馆合作，建立基于该项目的展示，并将研究成果与当地K-12科学教师正在进行的推广活动联系起来，私人投资机构将加强公众对科学和技术的了解。

HEWS LAY Abstract proposal IOS- 1052247 Most animals have complex sets of characteristics (traits) used in communication. A blue-colored signaling patch of skin, for example, requires the animals have an eye that is sensitive to blue wavelengths of light. Mechanisms integrating sets of correlated traits are not well-studied, and comparatively little is known about the physiological bases of these complex correlations, and how mechanisms may vary across species. The project will detail such mechanisms underlying correlated traits, and how they may be "pulled apart? evolutionarily, by studying twelve closely-related lizard species in the genus Sceloporus (fence lizards), in which there are repeated origins of a specific novel communicative trait. Studies of physiological and genetic mechanisms related to the co-evolution of visual and chemical communication will assess traits involved in both signal production (e.g., chemical components of secretions; skin cells producing color; hormone controllers) and signal reception (e.g., color-sensitivity of the eye; chemical sensitivity of the sensory tissues in the nasal region) . The PIs will also develop statistical methods needed to analyze data on correlated traits when the study species are closely related. The resulting software enabling such statistical analyses will be made freely available online for other researchers. There are diverse broader impacts. First, undergraduate and graduate student will be trained by and will collaborate with researchers in biochemistry, molecular biology, neurophysiology, animal behavior, evolutionary biology, and biostatistics. Second, funding will enhance infrastructure for research and education by facilitating collaborations between scientists in different disciplines and institutions in the US, and also in Mexico where many of the study species occur. Third, the PIs will enhance scientific and technological understanding of the public by collaborating with two Indiana science museums to establish displays based on the project, and by connecting research outcomes with ongoing outreach activities with local K-12 science teachers.