Phylogenomics, Revisionary Systematics, and Evolution of the Visual Systems in Dragonflies and Damselflies (Insecta: Ononata)

蜻蜓和豆娘同属一种原始昆虫类群，在昆虫进化过程中占据着关键地位。它们是最早长出翅膀的昆虫之一，有很好的化石记录，是所有昆虫中视力最敏锐的，是许多物种形成和保护研究的焦点。尽管这些昆虫作为一个研究群体很重要，但没有全面的系统发育描述这些昆虫之间的进化关系。通过利用化石和活体蜻蜓和豆娘的解剖信息，结合利用下一代测序技术收集的DNA数据，这项研究将为这一群体产生第一个全面的系统发育。这一系统发育将成为所有未来研究这些昆虫的基础，包括发现和描述新物种。此外，这项工作将专注于破译这些昆虫中与视觉系统相关的基因，这项研究的结果将使科学家更好地了解视觉系统是如何进化的。一些少数民族本科生和研究生以及博士后研究人员将接受尖端DNA测序技术的培训。所有工作人员将通过博物馆展览向公众展示我们的研究成果，重点是蜻蜓的多样性和它们视觉系统的进化。我们还将利用专门研究地球生物多样性的互联网网站（如生命百科全书和Morphbank），为公众和科学界提供有关蜻蜓和豆娘化石和活体的详细信息。这项研究将通过在化石研究方面的创新，开发新的分子工具来捕获、测序和表征基因，以及令人兴奋的见解，推动进化生物学向前发展，这些见解将提供对视觉系统进化的更深入的理解。

Dragonflies and damselflies belong to a primitive insect group that occupies a key point in the evolution of insects. They were among the first insects to gain wings, have an excellent fossil record, have the most acute vision of any insect, and are the focus for many speciation and conservation studies. Despite the importance of these insects as a study group, there is no comprehensive phylogeny depicting the evolutionary relationships among these insects. By using anatomical information gathered from fossil and living dragonflies and damselflies in combination with DNA data gathered by harnessing the power of next generation sequencing technologies, this research will produce the first comprehensive phylogeny for this group. This phylogeny will become the foundation for all future research on these insects, including the discovery and description of new species. In addition, this work will focus on deciphering the genes associated with visual systems in these insects, and results from this research will allow scientists to better understand how visual systems evolve. Several minority undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral researchers will be trained in cutting edge DNA sequencing technology. All personnel will work to convey our research to the general public via a museum exhibit focused on dragonfly diversity and the evolution of their visual systems. We will also use Internet websites devoted to earth's biodiversity (e.g., Encyclopedia of life and Morphbank) to provide the general public and the scientific community with detailed information regarding both fossil and living dragonflies and damselflies. This research will push evolutionary biology forward by innovations in working with fossils, the development of new molecular tools to capture, sequence and characterize genes, and exciting insights that will provide a more in-depth understanding of the evolution of visual systems.