CAREER: Development and Evolution of Wing Polyphenism in a True Bug

具有多翅性的昆虫物种发育成两种截然不同的成虫翅膀大小，具有明显不同的解剖模式。因此，虽然人类对成虫身体和器官的大小和模式只有一条发育途径，但不同个体的多物性昆虫的发育过程肯定是不同的。生长调节对人类健康的重要性使得对多器官大小的研究具有潜在的变革性。如何在每个人身上指定和实现一种形式？这种能力是如何在发生这种能力的物种中进化的？改变翅膀的大小如何影响昆虫扩散到新的栖息地？这个项目试图了解导致佛罗里达本土昆虫--红肩皂莓虫(JaDera Haematoloma)翅膀大小和图案不同的线索和替代发育过程。该项目将使用高通量测序来比较每种翅膀图案的昆虫的基因表达。对于选定的基因，功能测试将检查它们在调节器官大小和翅膀模式方面的相互作用和作用。多种性的进化将通过实验室对皂浆虫和一种相关昆虫的翅膀大小变化进行选择来探索，这种大的乳草虫通常会生长到一致的成年翅膀大小和模式。这项工作将主要由本科生进行，作为综合课程的一部分，该课程将分子遗传学、进化生物学和生态学的实践工作与与城市生活和新环境适应相关的社会科学和人文课程相结合。公立K-12学校的学生和教师将协助对虫子进行实地调查，以确定机翼大小与它们从佛罗里达州沿东海岸向北扩张的关系。项目人员和本科生将在线交流知识和经验，向更年轻的学生展示科学研究的过程。

Insect species with wing polyphenism grow to two distinctly different adult wing sizes, with distinctly different anatomical patterns. Therefore, while humans have a single developmental pathway to the size and pattern of the adult body and organs, the developmental process must diverge for different individuals of polyphenic insects. The importance of growth regulation to human health makes studies of polyphenic organ size potentially transformative. How is one form specified and realized in each individual? How does this ability evolve in the species where it occurs? How can alternate wing sizes affect the spread of insects into new habitats? This project seeks to understand the cues and alternative developmental processes that result in differently sized and patterned wings of a native Florida insect, the red-shouldered soapberry bug (Jadera haematoloma). This project will use high-throughput sequencing to compare the expression of genes in bugs of each wing pattern. For selected genes, functional tests will examine their interactions and roles in regulating organ size and wing pattern. The evolution of polyphenism will be explored by laboratory selection on wing size variation in soapberry bugs and in a related insect, the large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus), which normally grows to a consistent adult wing size and pattern. This work will be conducted largely by undergraduate students, as part of an integrative curriculum that combines hands-on work in molecular genetics, evolutionary biology and ecology with related social science and humanities courses related to urban life and adaptation to new environments. Public K-12 students and teachers will assist in field surveys of the bugs to determine how wing sizes correlate with their northward expansion from Florida up the East Coast. Project personnel and undergraduates will exchange knowledge and experiences online to illustrate the process of scientific research to younger students.