DISSERTATION RESEARCH:Evolutionary flexibility of hormone systems and behavior

生物学家仍然不了解遗传和环境影响如何相互作用以产生功能良好的生物体的机制。本项目利用对特立尼达孔雀鱼（Poecilia reticulata）应激激素的大量研究，探讨应激激素的差异如何协调受这些激素影响的性状（如行为、颜色和体型）的有利变化。为了解决这些问题，该项目测量了在实验室饲养的鱼的激素水平和各种行为，采用了一种区分遗传背景和饲养环境影响的育种设计。该项目将揭示长期和短期环境差异是如何改变激素水平的，以及激素水平变化对影响孔雀鱼生存的性状的影响。研究结果将揭示基因和环境相互作用形成多种性状的激素机制。此外，激素水平——特别是应激激素水平——经常被用来预测野生和家养动物的健康和适应性，了解遗传和环境如何相互作用来改变自然种群的激素水平，将有助于预测动物如何应对新的或不断变化的环境，如栖息地退化、入侵物种和气候变化。这项论文改进基金将支持一名研究生的培训和多名本科生的研究参与。该项目还将推广到当地的初中和高中，在课堂上使用孔雀鱼作为研究性科学的典范。

Biologists still don't understand the mechanisms by which genetic and environmental influences interact to produce well-functioning organisms. This project takes advantage of the wealth of research on stress hormones in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata) to ask how differences in stress hormones coordinate favorable changes in traits influenced by these hormones such as behavior, color, and body size. To address these questions, the project measures hormone levels and various behaviors in fish reared in the laboratory using a breeding design that distinguishes the effects of genetic background and rearing environment. The project will reveal how long- and short-term environmental differences alter hormone levels and the consequences of changes in hormone levels on traits that influence guppy survival. The results will reveal the hormonal mechanisms by which genes and the environment interact to shape multiple traits. In addition, hormone levels - in particular stress hormone levels - are often used to predict health and fitness in wild and domestic animals, and understanding how genetics and environment interact to modify levels in natural populations will improve predictions of how animals respond to novel or changing environments, such as habitat degradation, invasive species, and climate change. This dissertation improvement grant will support the training of a graduate student and research involvement of multiple undergraduate students. The project will also reach out to local middle and high schools using guppies as a model for inquiry-based science in the classroom.