Collaborative Research: Repeated Adaptive Radiation in the Coevolutionary History of Birds and Feather Lice

该项目使用鸟类羽毛虱作为模型系统，以更好地了解生态相互作用如何形成进化模式。鸟类羽毛虱反复进化出特定的形态，它们生活在宿主身体的不同部位，它们逃脱宿主防御的方式也不同。例如，一些种类的虱子已经进化得非常薄和窄，可以适应在翅膀羽毛的倒刺之间，这样它们就不容易被移除，而其他种类的虱子已经进化出了巨大的下颚，可以咬下羽毛。这项研究的目的是为了更好地了解这些重复适应是如何在与宿主的相互作用中发生的。该提案将包括对三名研究生和一名博士后进行分子和形态分析方面的广泛培训，并支持aTRAM软件的进一步开发。本科教育模块将与美国国家科学基金会资助的本科教育生物多样性素养（BLUE）合作开发。为了研究重复进化适应，本研究将使用基因组、形态学和物种相互作用数据来阐明重复共同进化事件的模式和过程。主要目的是：1)对280种羽虱的全基因组进行测序，确定该群体中重复适应辐射的数量；2)使用CT扫描和载玻片标本的形态学测量来检查每个生态形态的形态学收敛；3)利用这些测序的基因组识别与生态形态转变相关的具有选择特征的基因；4)比较虱子与其鸟类宿主的系统发育，以评估在主要宿主转换事件中是否更频繁地发生生态形态转变。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。

This project uses Avian feather lice as a model system to better understand how ecological interactions shape evolutionary patterns. Avian feather lice have repeatedly evolved particular morphologies, they live on different parts of the host's body and they differ in how they escape host defense. For example, some species of lice have evolved to be very thin and narrow and can fit between the barbs of the wing feathers where they cannot be easily removed, while others have evolved large mandibles to bite down on the feathers. The purpose of this study is to better understand the process of how these repeated adaptations have occurred in response to interactions with their hosts. This proposal will involve extensive training of three graduate students and a postdoc in both molecular and morphological analysis and support further development of the software aTRAM. A module for undergraduate education will be developed in collaboration with NSF funded Biodiversity Literacy in Undergraduate Education (BLUE). To study repeated evolutionary adaptation this study will use genomic, morphological, and species interaction data to elucidate the pattern and processes underlying repeated co-evolutionary events. The main objectives are to 1) Sequence whole genomes of 280 species of feather lice to determine the number of repeated adaptive radiations in this group; 2) Use morphological measurements from both CT scanned and slide mounted specimens to examine morphological convergence with each ecomorph; 3) Use these sequenced genomes to identify genes with signatures of selection that are associated with ecomorph transitions; and 4) Compare the phylogeny of the lice with that of their avian hosts to evaluate whether ecomorph transitions occur more often at major host switching events.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.