Collaborative Research: Adaptation Across Latitude and Altitude: Genomics, Morphology, and Physiology of Montane Bumble Bees

了解物种如何应对环境变化的方式在进化生物学中具有重要意义，并对预测生物对全球变化的反应具有重要意义。对环境变化的适应可以通过检查广泛环境中的生理和遗传差异来推断，但扩散的空间、物理或环境障碍也会影响这些特征的分布。出现在纬度和海拔梯度上的物种在梳理不同的进化力量如何与环境变化相互作用以形成形态、生理和遗传多样性方面具有独特的优势。该项目将研究山地大黄蜂对环境变化的生理和基因组反应。鉴于传粉者减少的证据和对未来环境变化的普遍预期，结果将同时解决关于进化适应的问题，并取得进展，以预测气候和迁徙障碍对关键传粉者群体的影响。该项目将把生理和形态测量与下一代基因组DNA测序相结合，对加州、俄勒冈州和华盛顿州的野生和实验室饲养种群进行采样，以产生几条适应非生物梯度的证据。需要解决的问题包括：(1)身体和翅膀形态在纬度和海拔上的变化是否与预期的对温度调节和飞行压力的反应相匹配？(2)纬度和海拔是否通过扩散限制来驱动遗传变化，或者基因是否显示出环境适应的迹象？(3)在实验室飞行挑战中，来自纬度和海拔极端的实验室蜜蜂在飞行生理和基因表达调控方面是否存在差异？

Understanding the ways in which species cope with environmental variability is of fundamental importance in evolutionary biology and has implications for predicting organismal responses to global change. Adaptation to environmental variation can be inferred by examining physiological and genetic variation across a broad range of environments, but spatial, physical, or environmental barriers to dispersal also influence the distribution of such characteristics. Species that occur across latitude and elevation gradients present unique advantages for teasing apart how different evolutionary forces interact with environmental variation to shape morphological, physiological, and genetic diversity. This project will investigate physiological and genomic responses to environmental variation in montane bumblebees. In light of evidence for pollinator declines and widespread expectations for future environmental changes, results will simultaneously address questions about evolutionary adaptation, and yield advancements to predict impacts of climate and migration barriers on a key pollinator group. This project will combine measurements of physiology and morphology with next-generation genomic DNA sequencing in wild and laboratory reared populations sampled across California, Oregon, and Washington to produce several lines of evidence for adaptation to abiotic gradients. Questions to be addressed include: (1) Does variation in body and wing morphology across latitude and altitude match predicted responses to pressures on thermoregulation and flight? (2) Do latitude and altitude drive genetic change through dispersal limitations, or do genes exhibit signatures of environmental adaptation? (3) Do laboratory bees reared from latitude and altitude extremes exhibit differences in flight physiology and gene expression regulation in laboratory flight challenges?