RoL:FELS:EAGER: The genetic architecture of biomechanical integration in fishes

为了完成一项任务，动物必须协调多个身体部位和/或系统的功能。例如，视觉系统和运动系统的协调对于主动捕捉移动猎物的动物来说是至关重要的。对于鱼类来说，运动系统和进食系统必须协调一致，才能准确地在水中捕获猎物。这种协调是如何影响生存的，或者它是如何根据生态条件而变化的，目前还不得而知。此外，这种功能整合的遗传基础是一个谜。事实上，对于控制非人类动物行为特征的基因，我们几乎一无所知。三棘棘鱼系统被用来揭示这些关系，因为它们多次入侵来自共同海洋祖先的孤立淡水栖息地。这导致了在相对较短的时间内（自上一个冰期以来）种群的快速平行进化。这个自然实验提供了一个框架，从中发现在对生存至关重要的任务中，构成复杂行为整合基础的特定基因。该项目将拓展进化理论的边界，为今后复杂行为的研究提供基础。这项研究可以应用于任何动物系统，包括人类。该项目将为学生和博士后研究人员提供研究培训和国际实地经验，包括那些传统上在STEM学科中代表性不足的群体。研究为开发不同生态资源而分化的自然种群的进化是进化生物学的一个重要目标。大多数研究遗传学和表型之间的联系集中在物种和种群之间的形态差异。然而，行为的进化变化通常被认为是启动适应性转变的组成部分，因此种群或物种可能表现出各种栖息地选择策略来使用资源，并且可能在用于开发这些资源的行为特征上有所不同。对生存至关重要的行为特征，如捕获猎物或躲避捕食者，来自于生物体内部各部分和系统的整合，导致数量表型特征经常彼此共变。我们对脊椎动物行为特征的遗传结构所知甚少，对行为整合的结构所知更少。利用有关三刺棘鱼（Gasterosteus aculeatus）生态学和进化的广泛信息，将确定猎物捕获过程中运动和摄食之间动态功能整合的遗传结构。这将通过从海洋祖先分化出来的淡水种群的平行进化来完成。这些行为特征背后的遗传结构将通过对种群之间的一些杂交进行测序（并获得qtl）来检查，然后将其与生物力学表型联系起来（使用高速3D视频）。整合的重要性将通过打击精度分析和捕获成功的其他措施来评估。这种综合方法可能会导致对复杂表型进化的新见解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Animals must coordinate the function of multiple body parts and/or systems in order to accomplish a task. For example, the coordination of visual and locomotor systems is critical for animals that actively hunt mobile prey. For fishes, both the locomotor and feedings systems must be coordinated in order to accurately capture prey in the water. How this coordination impacts survival, or how it differs depending on ecological conditions, is unknown. Furthermore, the genetic basis of this functional integration is a mystery. In fact, almost nothing is known about the genes that control behavioral traits in non-human animals. The three-spine stickleback system is used for uncovering these relationships because they have repeatedly invaded isolated freshwater habitats from a common marine ancestor. This has resulted in the rapid parallel evolution of populations over a relatively short period of time (since the last glacial period). This natural experiment provides the framework from which to discover the specific genes that underlie complex behavioral integration during tasks that are critical for survival. This project will expand the boundaries of evolutionary theory and provide a basis from which to conduct future studies on complex behaviors. This research can translate to any animal system, including humans. The project will provide research training and international field experiences to student and postdoctoral investigators, including those from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the STEM disciplines.Investigating the evolution of natural populations that diverge to exploit different ecological resources is an important objective in evolutionary biology. Most studies that examine the link between genetics and phenotype focus on morphological differences among species and populations. However, evolutionary changes in behavior are often considered integral in initiating adaptive shifts, whereby populations or species may exhibit a variety of habitat selection strategies to use resources and may differ in the behavioral traits used to exploit those resources. Behavioral traits critical for survival, such as prey capture or predator evasion, emerge from the integration of parts and systems within an organism, causing quantitative phenotypic traits to often co-vary with one another. Little is known about the genetic architecture of behavioral traits in vertebrates, and even less is known about the architecture of behavioral integration. Leveraging the extensive information regarding the ecology and evolution of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), the genetic architecture of dynamic functional integration between locomotion and feeding during prey capture will be determined. This will be done using the parallel evolution of freshwater populations that have diverged from a marine ancestor. The genetic architecture underlying these behavioral traits will be examined by sequencing a number of crosses between populations (and obtaining QTLs), and then linking this to biomechanical phenotypes (using high-speed 3D video). The importance of integration will be assessed using a strike accuracy assay and other measures of capture success. This integrative approach may lead to new insight into the evolution of complex phenotypes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.