MCA: Developing molecular tools to explore mating system diversity in salamanders

这项研究的目的是让研究者学习一种用于亲子关系分析的分子技术，同时询问一组密切相关的鼹鼠蝾螈的交配行为。PI将与她的研究伙伴合作，应用现代基因测序方法开发亲子鉴定工具。目标是使用新开发的分子工具来比较三种蝾螈的交配行为，其中交配行为被认为差异很大。这项工作是一个更广泛的研究计划的一部分，以更好地了解动物生殖和社会行为的演变。鼹鼠蝾螈是这项工作的理想群体。首先，交配和养育行为相对简单，易于量化。第二，虽然在青蛙身上进行了一些控制这些行为的工作，但在蝾螈身上还没有这样的工作，所以研究另一个大的两栖动物群将为两栖动物的进化和控制这些行为提供一个更具代表性的图景。最后，这些行为的控制似乎在脊椎动物群体中高度保守-从两栖动物到哺乳动物。因此，我们对两栖动物这些行为的进化和控制的了解可以揭示鸟类和哺乳动物的相同行为，这些行为通常与交配相关的社会互动要复杂得多。研究人员的研究目标是了解社会行为，包括交配和养育子女，如何促进和限制复杂生命史的进化。为了实现这一点，她专注于与最近的进化起源的父母照顾，以及父母照顾交配行为和胚胎发育的级联效应的生态因素。最近，PI的研究已经扩展到研究交配和养育行为是如何交织在一起的，并询问雌性多次交配的程度是否在有和没有父母照顾的物种之间存在差异。她的实验工作集中在鼹鼠蝾螈（Ambystoma spp.），一个有着多变的交配模式和父母照顾的群体。为了推进这项工作，她需要一个可靠的工具来量化一妻多夫制。PI将学习并实施RADcap方法，用于定量单核苷酸多态性，并将其应用于三种Ambystoma蝾螈的亲子关系分析，包括一种关怀和两种非关怀物种。除了验证这些方法在这组有机体的亲子分析，这项研究将测试假设的维护一妻多夫制，并奠定了基础，为未来的比较studies.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

The purpose of this research is for the investigator to learn a molecular technique for parentage analysis, while asking questions about mating behavior in a group of closely related mole salamanders. Working with her research partner, the PI will apply modern gene sequencing methods to develop tools for assigning parentage. The goal is to use the newly developed molecular tools to compare mating behavior across three salamander species, among which mating behavior is thought to vary considerably. This work is part of a broader research program to better understand the evolution of reproductive and social behavior in animals. Mole salamanders are an ideal group for this work. First, the mating and parenting behavior are relatively simple and easy to quantify. Second, although some work on the control of these behaviors has been conducted in frogs, there is no such work in salamanders, so studying another large group of amphibians will provide a more representative picture of the evolution and control of these behavior in amphibians, generally. Finally, the control of these behaviors appears to be highly conserved across vertebrate groups – from amphibians to mammals. Therefore, what we learn about the evolution and control of these behaviors in amphibians can shed light on the same behaviors in birds and mammals, who often have much more complex social interactions associated with mating. The goal of the investigator's research is to understand how social behaviors, including mating and parenting, promote and constrain the evolution of complex life histories. To accomplish this, she focuses on the ecological factors associated with recent evolutionary origins of parental care as well as the cascading effects of parental care on mating behavior and embryonic development. Recently, the PI’s research has expanded to examine how mating and parenting behaviors are intertwined and to ask whether the extent of female multiple mating differs between species with and without parental care. Her experimental work focuses on the mole salamanders (Ambystoma spp.), a group with variable mating patterns and parental care. In order to advance this work, she needs a reliable tool for quantifying polyandry. The PI will learn and implement the RADcap method for quantifying single nucleotide polymorphisms and apply it to parentage analysis in three Ambystoma salamanders that include one caring and two non-caring species. In addition to validating these methods for parentage analysis in this group of organisms, this research will test hypotheses for the maintenance of polyandry and lay the groundwork for future comparative studies.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.