ARTS: Taxonomic revision of Aphelinus species of the world using advanced bioinformatics and molecular methods

这个项目将产生一个世界范围内的审查Aparinus物种，一组微小的寄生蜂。许多新的物种被发现，包括在传统形态特征上只有轻微差异的神秘物种。将对标本拍照以记录颜色和分类特征，将使用非破坏性方法提取DNA，并将使用下一代测序方法生成分子特征。将对数据进行分析，以确定物种的特征，并为分类提供一个进化框架。选择的杂交将证实生殖隔离。将使用一个在线数据管理系统来储存和组织收集记录、文献、数字图像以及形态和分子数据。结果公布后，数据将提供给全球生物多样性信息的在线来源。蚜虫是蚜虫的天敌，全面和可靠的分类将大大有助于它们在生物防治这些重要害虫中的应用。物种形成的速度非常快，使得物种很难用传统的分子方法来描述。下一代测序将提供数量级更多的信息来推断进化关系，该项目是首批将这些方法应用于昆虫分类学的项目之一。两名研究生将接受当代系统生物学理论和方法的广泛培训。拟寄生蜂是研究拟寄生蜂物种形成、配偶识别、寄主转换和内共生体等复杂的相互关联的效应的极好模型系统。该项目将为这些研究提供必要的基础。

This project will produce a worldwide review of Aphelinus species, a group of minute parasitic wasps. Many new species are known to occur, including cryptic species that differ only slightly in traditional morphological characters. Specimens will be photographed to record coloration and taxonomic characters, DNA will be extracted using non-destructive methods, and next-generation sequencing methods will be used to generate molecular characters. The data will be analyzed to characterize species and to provide an evolutionary framework for classification. Selected crosses will confirm reproductive isolation. An on-line data management system will be used to store and organize collection records, literature, digital images and morphological and molecular data. Following publication of the results, data will be delivered to online sources of global biodiversity information.Aphelinus species are natural enemies of aphids, and a comprehensive and robust taxonomy will greatly facilitate their use in the biological control of those important pests. Rates of speciation are extremely rapid in Aphelinus, making species difficult to characterize using traditional molecular methods. Next-generation sequencing will provide orders of magnitude more information to infer evolutionarily relationships, and the project is one of the first to apply these methods to insect taxonomy. Two graduate students will be broadly trained in the theory and methods of contemporary systematic biology. Aphelinus species are superb model systems for study of speciation in parasitoids, and the complex, inter-related effects of mate recognition, host-switching, and endosymbionts. This project will provide the essential foundation for these studies.