Deciphering the evolution of galling by gall wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae), using a comparative and integrative approach

消耗植物组织的昆虫对包括所有农作物在内的植物物种的健康、生存和进化产生了巨大的影响。在某些情况下，昆虫食草动物也会改变寄主植物的发育和生理程序，从而使植物产生更多的组织以造福昆虫。昆虫引起这些植物反应的机制以及昆虫进化出这些非凡能力的途径在很大程度上是未知的。这个项目将研究这些复杂的植物-食草动物相互作用的进化，使用瘿蜂家族，棘蜂科，作为一个模型系统。这个家族包含数千种操纵寄主植物产生肿瘤样结构的物种，称为瘿，黄蜂幼虫在那里觅食，同时免受捕食者和外部环境的侵害。瘿在植物上的结构和位置有很大的不同，这取决于产生瘿的黄蜂种类。研究人员将生成基因组规模的数据，以测试瘿蜂是如何进化出产生瘿的能力的，以及植物的瘿结构是如何随着时间的推移而进化的。通过检查这些黄蜂的解剖和生理，研究人员还将阐明胆诱导剂如何能够操纵宿主植物。该项目将支持培训多名早期职业研究人员，包括代表性不足的群体的成员，并开发将改善昆虫生物学教育的课程。公众外展活动将突出昆虫在我们社会中的生态和经济影响，并将利用瘿生物学的丰富历史吸引不同的受众。研究小组将解决棘蚜科的进化史，以确定瘿诱导是否在该家族中不止一次进化，确定病毒或微生物共生体是否与瘿有关，并确定黄蜂物种如何随着时间的推移在宿主植物物种之间转移。研究人员将利用200多个典型类群（包括每个部落和几乎所有属）的2000个超保守元件位点的序列数据重建犬科的系统发育。通过相关的荟萃分析，包括祖先状态重建、发散时间估计和比较方法，将从这棵树中推断胆囊诱导策略的演变。成虫（毒液）和幼虫（髂骨、唾液腺）的大体形态、化学成分和转录组学特征将被表征，以发现可能的胆囊诱导基因产物，如植物激素模拟物。该研究的其他成果将包括新的诊断工具，扩大的收集和基因组库，以及一个可公开访问的数据库，该数据库将整理和综合历史上的瘿蜂研究，以加速描述和发现。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。

Insects that consume plant tissues have an inordinate impact on the health, survival and evolution of plant species, including all agricultural crops. In some cases, insect herbivores also alter the developmental and physiological programs of their host-plants, which cause the plants to produce more tissue for the benefit of the insect. The mechanisms by which insects cause these plant responses and the pathways by which insects evolved these remarkable abilities are largely unknown. This project will examine the evolution of these complex plant-herbivore interactions using the gall-wasp family, Cynipidae, as a model system. This family contains thousands of species that manipulate host-plants to create tumor-like structures, called galls, in which wasp larvae feed while being protected from predators and the outside environment. Galls vary tremendously in their architecture and location on the plant depending on the wasp species that initiated the gall. Researchers will generate genome-scale data to test how gall-wasps evolved the ability to make galls and how plant gall architecture has evolved over time. By examining the anatomy and physiology of these wasps, researchers will also shed light on how gall inducers are able to manipulate host-plants. The project will support the training of multiple early-career researchers, including members of underrepresented groups, and develop curricula that will improve insect biology education. Public outreach events will highlight the ecological and economic impact of insects in our society and will use the rich history of gall biology to engage diverse audiences. The research team will resolve the evolutionary history of Cynipidae to determine whether gall induction evolved more than once in the family, establish whether viral or microbial symbionts are associated with galling, and determine how wasp species shifted among host-plant species over time. Researchers will reconstruct Cynipidae phylogeny using sequence data from 2,000 loci of ultra-conserved elements from more than 200 exemplar taxa, including every tribe and almost all genera. The evolution of gall induction strategies will be inferred from this tree using relevant meta-analyses, including ancestral states reconstruction, divergence time estimation, and comparative methods. Adult (venom) and larval (iliac, salivary) glands will be characterized for gross morphology, chemical composition, and transcriptomic profiles to uncover possible gall-inducing gene products, such as plant hormone mimics. Other outcomes of the research will include new diagnostic tools, expanded collections and genomic repositories, as well as a publicly-accessible database that will collate and synthesize historical gall-wasp research to accelerate description and discovery.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.