Using modern molecular methods to identify and dissect the genetic basis of polymorphic shell coloration of the common Grove snail Cepea nemoralis

识别和理解产生表型多样性的机制是进化生物学的一个基本目标。令人惊讶的是，从整体上理解这种变异的例子很少(从基因型到表型，从个体到群体)。由于孟德尔遗传模式所控制的多种多样的色素壳形态，常见的格罗夫蜗牛Cepea nm alis几十年来一直是进化生物学家和种群遗传学家的模型。然而，Cepea产生这种色素壳多样性的分子机制仍然完全不清楚。使用各种技术(下一代测序、数字基因表达谱、空间基因表达分析、拉曼光谱和各种蛋白质表征技术)，我们将识别和表征影响这种变异的遗传基因座。这些技术将在两种主要方法的框架内使用，以增加识别这些基因座的机会：一种是从基因到表型的方法，另一种是从基因到表型的方法。这项提议中计划的工作将带来对这种进化模式的分子水平的理解，补充已经建立起来的CEPEA的种群生态学和孟德尔遗传知识。这一提议的结果将使国际上大规模监测欧洲近亲贝壳形态类型频率的努力(如进化巨型)受益，为更深入地研究这一长期存在的进化模式铺平道路。

Identifying and understanding the mechanisms that generate phenotypic diversity is a fundamental goal of evolutionary biology. Surprisingly few examples of such variation are holistically understood (from genotype to phenotype, and from the individual to the population). With a diversity of pigmented shell morphotypes governed by Mendelian patterns of inheritance, the common Grove snail Cepea nemoralis has been a model for evolutionary biologists and population geneticists for decades. However, the molecular mechanisms by which Cepea generates this pigmented shell diversity remain completely unknown. Using a variety of techniques (next generation sequencing, digital gene expression profiling, spatial gene expression analysis, Raman spectroscopy and a variety of protein characterisation techniques) we will identify and characterise the genetic loci that influence this variation. These techniques will be employed within the framework of two main approaches in order to increase the chances of identifying these loci: a genotype to phenotype approach and vice versa. The work planned within this proposal will bring a molecular level of understanding to this model of evolution, complementing the population ecology and Mendelian genetic knowledge of Cepea that is already well established. Large scale international efforts to monitor the frequencies of C. nemoralis shell morphotypes across Europe (such as The Evolution Megalab) will benefit from the results of this proposal, paving the way for more in depth studies of this long standing model of evolution.