Doctoral Dissertation Research: Genomics of Speciation and Diversification in Primates

关于新物种如何以及为什么形成的问题是进化生物学的核心，因为物种形成是我们星球上各种动植物的主要过程，包括我们自己的物种。本项目探讨了猕猴（Macaca属）物种形成的基因组原因和后果。在过去的500万年里，这种猴子迅速多样化，并辐射出至少22种，占据了北非、欧洲和亚洲广泛的环境和栖息地。鉴于猕猴的生物、形态和生态变化方面已有丰富的数据，本研究产生的基因组数据将允许对灵长类动物基因组变化、生物学变化、自然选择和物种形成之间的联系进行详细分析。此外，猕猴的多样化与古人类相似，并且大致与之同时代，因此可以作为人类进化的比较模型。这个项目的发现也将为灵长类动物保护工作和人类健康和疾病的医学模型提供信息，研究人员在学生培训和公众科学宣传方面投入了大量资金。在这个为期18个月的项目中，整个基因组编码区将被测序（外显子组测序），用于整个猕猴属的物种。这些数据将允许识别显示物种之间相对较高差异的基因组“岛屿”，并确定是几个大岛屿还是许多小岛屿推动了基因组隔离。对基因组中蛋白质编码区域的序列变化和拷贝数变化的检查将解决自然选择在多大程度上塑造了这种辐射。该项目将能够解决微观和宏观进化过程之间的联系，将这种灵长类动物的适应性辐射置于空间和环境背景下，并对其他进化枝（如人类）的物种形成产生新的假设。通过广泛的培训和外联工作，以及分享与生物医学研究和保护有关的数据，扩大了这个项目的科学和社会影响。

Questions about how and why new species form are central to evolutionary biology because speciation is the primary process responsible for our planet's amazing variety of plants and animals, including our own species. This project explores the genomic causes and consequences of speciation in the macaque (genus Macaca). During the past 5 million years, this genus of monkeys has diversified rapidly and radiated into at least 22 species occupying a wide range of environments and habitats across northern Africa, Europe, and Asia. Given the wealth of data already available on biological, morphological, and ecological variation among macaques, the genomic data generated by this study will allow detailed analysis of the links among genomic change, biological change, natural selection and speciation in primates. Further, the diversification of Macaca resembles, and was roughly contemporary with, that of the hominins, and therefore serves as a comparative model for human evolution. Findings from this project will also inform primate conservation efforts and medical models of human health and disease, and the investigators are highly invested in student training and public scientific outreach.In this 18-month project, the entire coding region of the genome will be sequenced (exome sequencing) for species across the macaque genus. The data will allow identification of genomic 'islands' that show relatively high divergence among species and determine whether a few large or many small islands drive genomic isolation. Examination of sequence changes and variation in the copy number of protein-coding regions of the genome will address the extent to which natural selection has shaped this radiation. The project will be able to address links between micro- and macroevolutionary processes, place this primate adaptive radiation within a spatial and environmental context, and generate new hypotheses about speciation in other clades such as hominins. The scientific and societal impact of this project is amplified through extensive training and outreach efforts, as well as sharing of data relevant to biomedical research and conservation.