DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Correlated diversification of a male trait and associated female perception

进化论中一个长期存在的问题是，强烈的配偶竞争和配偶选择是否会影响物种的进化。这个问题仍然没有得到解决，因为物种在很深的时间尺度上积累，之前的研究揭示了模棱两可的结果。与跨物种的研究不同，跨种群的研究显示了配偶选择和快速进化之间的明确联系，并显示了雄性交配信号和相关的雌性偏好之间的相关性。文献中没有一项研究是在物种水平上测试这些种群水平的发现，具体地说，是一项将雄性交配信号的分化与雌性感知相关联的研究。如果女性感知的变化与男性信号的变化相适应，该项目将支持一个新的发现：类似的机制在跨物种和跨种群发挥作用。这也表明，性信号可能受到女性生理的制约，女性生理的变化允许男性信号多样性的变化。该项目的成果将在国际会议上传播，本科生将积极参与这项研究，该项目的成果将有助于开发产生不同颜色生物发光的新型生物医学报告酶。生物发光，交配信号介形类甲壳动物提供了一种独特的系统，以了解性信号与其预期接收器有多密切的联系。研究人员将首先测量从加勒比海采集的26种介形类甲壳类雄性动物的生物发光发射光谱。接下来，他们将使用视觉生理学技术测量来自10个物种的雌性感知光谱，该技术确定眼睛中单个感光细胞对特定波长的光的吸收。然后，研究人员将确定男性性征光谱(生物发光的颜色)和女性感知光谱的重叠量。如果种群遗传学理论成立，偏好由知觉决定，我们预计男性信号和女性生理之间存在协变。

A long-standing question in evolution is whether strong mate competition and mate selection influences the evolution of species. This question remains unresolved because species accumulate over deep timescales, and previous studies have revealed ambiguous results. In contrast to studies across species, studies across populations show clear links between mate selection and rapid evolution, and show correlations between male mating signals and the associated female preferences. Missing in the literature is a study that tests these population-level findings in a species-level context, specifically, one that correlates differentiation in male mating signals and female perception. If changes in female perception are met with changes in male signal, the project will support a novel finding: that similar mechanisms are at work across species as across populations. This also suggests that sexual signals may be constrained by female physiology, and that changes in female physiology allow for changes in male signal diversity. Results from this project will be disseminated at international meetings, undergraduates will be actively involved in this research, and outcomes of this project will contribute to the development of novel biomedical reporter enzymes that create different colors of bioluminescence. Bioluminescent, mate-signaling ostracod crustaceans offer a unique system to understand how closely sexual signals associate with their intended receivers. The researchers will first measure bioluminescent emission spectra from males of 26 species of ostracod crustaceans collected from the Caribbean Sea. Next, they will measure female perceptual spectra from 10 species using a visual physiology technique that determines the absorption of specific wavelengths of light through single photoreceptor cells in the eye. The researchers will then determine the amount of overlap of male sexual trait spectra (the color of the bioluminescence) and the female perceptual spectra. If population genetic theory holds, and preference is determined by perception, we expect covariation between male signals and female physiology.