NSF DEB-NERC: Phylogenomics and Sensory Systems Evolution in Silkmoths and Relatives

几乎所有的动物都用视觉和嗅觉来感觉它们周围的环境。据推测，当一个物种进化到白天或夜间活动时，它的眼睛、嗅觉器官以及与这些结构相关的基因也会进化。然而，这一概念在很大程度上仍未得到检验，因为没有全面的进化树和相关的比较数据。蚕蛾及其近亲是最引人注目的飞蛾之一，它们为研究视觉和嗅觉这两个潜在的互补感觉系统是如何进化的提供了一个极好的机会。该小组包括许多模式生物，如驯化的蚕蛾和烟草角虫，它们在生物科学的许多领域发挥着关键作用。一些蚕蛾和亲戚正在破坏农业，它们经常被用作教育工具，因为它们体型大，有魅力，能够在课堂上迷住孩子。尽管他们在科学和教育中发挥了作用，但这个模型组仍然缺乏对进化关系的强有力的估计。与美国和英国的合作研究团队一起，该项目将组装一个广泛的基因数据集，并为该群体重建一棵强大的进化树。将培训两名博士后研究人员、两名研究生、几名本科生和数十名小学生、初中生和高中生，其中包括许多来自代表性不足群体的学生。这项研究将建立一个模式昆虫类群-蚕蛾及其近缘(鳞翅目：蚕总科)的全面系统发育图，并利用它来研究两个主要感官系统的进化：视觉和嗅觉。该项目将在五个机构之间建立美英合作伙伴关系，以初步生成基于捕获的目标骨干系统发育图，该系统发育基于700个遗传位点和1000个蚕总科物种。然后将使用扫描电子显微镜和3D微型计算机断层扫描来量化昆虫视觉和嗅觉的两个关键器官(眼睛和触角)的感觉形态。从感觉器官转录本中分离出来的视觉和嗅觉基因序列的分子进化将被分析，以测试在相关的白天和夜间物种之间进行选择的证据。将使用新的方法从冷冻和博物馆标本中分离基因序列，从而使这一工具对更广泛的科学家社区有用。

Nearly all animals use sight and smell to sense their surroundings. It is assumed that when a species evolves to become diurnal or nocturnal, its eyes, olfactory organs, and the genes associated with these structures also evolve. However, this concept remains largely untested, because a comprehensive evolutionary tree and associated comparative data are not available. Silkmoths and relatives are some of the most conspicuous moths, and they provide an excellent opportunity to study how two potentially complementary sensory systems -- sight and smell -- have evolved. The group includes many model organisms, such as the domesticated silkmoth and tobacco hornworm, which play key roles in many areas of the biological sciences. Some silkmoths and relatives are damaging to agriculture, and they are frequently used as an educational tool because of their large size, charisma, and ability to captivate children in classrooms. Despite their role in science and education, this model group still lacks a robust estimate of evolutionary relationships. With collaborative research teams in the United States and the United Kingdom, this project will assemble an extensive genetic dataset and reconstruct a robust evolutionary tree for the group. Two postdoctoral researchers, two graduates students, several undergraduates, and dozens of elementary, middle and high school students will be trained, including many students from under-represented groups. This study will produce a comprehensive phylogeny of a model insect group, the silkmoths and relatives (Lepidoptera: Bombycoidea) and use it to study the evolution of two principal sensory systems: vision and olfaction. The project will develop a US-UK collaborative partnership across five institutions to initially generate a target capture-based backbone phylogeny based on 700 genetic loci and 1000 species of Bombycoidea. Scanning electron microscopy and 3D Micro-computed Tomography scanning will then be used to quantify sensory morphology of two key organs (eye and antenna) that are central to insect vision and olfaction. The molecular evolution of vision and olfactory gene sequences isolated from sensory organ transcriptomes will be analyzed to test for evidence of selection between related diurnal and nocturnal species. Gene sequences will be isolated from frozen and museum specimens using new methodologies, thereby making this tool useful to the broader community of scientists.