BRC-BIO: Investigating Color and Pattern Diversity in Painted Turtles

本研究探讨了彩龟贝壳颜色和图案变异的功能。这项工作包括实验和实地工作，重点了解海龟组织中色素的抗氧化功能。在此过程中，这项工作将探索抗氧化剂如何影响生存，以及贝壳颜色和图案的自然变化。了解色素的抗氧化功能和对生存的影响对于预测海龟如何应对环境变化至关重要。这项研究还将为芝加哥一所西班牙裔服务机构的学生提供进行实地工作和研究的机会。学生将接受科学传播方面的培训，并将共同撰写研究论文。学生们还可以参加一家软件公司的带薪实习，该公司将开发一个开源平台，用于从图像中提取颜色和图案数据。理解生物多样性需要确定其背后的机制和功能，并理解变异的适应度后果。动物的颜色和图案是研究变异的功能和后果的重要特征，因为这些高度可见的表型可以影响个体生活的方方面面。彩龟因其黄色的皮肤条纹和亮橙色的腹壳而得名。尽管它们的名字和分布范围很广，但人们对它们的颜色和图案知之甚少。本研究从三个方面解决了这些知识差距。首先，通过识别壳着色的功能（目标1）。其次，通过评估贝壳颜色如何影响适应性（目标2）。第三，通过表征外壳图案的变化（目标3）。目的1将通过控制巢中海龟蛋的色素含量并评估其抗氧化能力的影响来进行研究。研究人员推测，类胡萝卜素是造成蛋壳亮橙色的原因，它在越冬后恢复过程中起到了减轻氧化应激的作用。这个假设和相关的方法是建立在以前的工作和试点数据。目的2将利用自然实验的优势，通过比较色素浓度相似但颜色不同的两个种群的种群水平生存轨迹和个体水平生存轨迹来研究。最后，目标3将通过使用几何形态计量学和神经网络来评估巢内、种群内和种群间壳图案的差异。后一个目标将与一家能够为学生提供培训和实习机会的软件公司合作完成。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 research explores the function of variation in shell color and pattern in painted turtles. The work involves experiments and field work focused on understanding the antioxidant function of pigments in turtle tissues. In doing so, the work will explore how antioxidants impact survival, and the natural variation in shell colors and patterns. Understanding the antioxidant function and survival impacts of pigments is essential for making predictions about how turtles may respond to environmental change. This research will also provide students at a Hispanic-serving institution in Chicago the opportunity to conduct field work and research. Students will be trained in science communication and will co-author research papers. Students will also be able to participate in a paid internship with a software company who will develop an open-source platform for extracting color and pattern data from images. Understanding biological diversity requires both identifying the mechanisms and functions that underlie it, and understanding the fitness consequences of variation. Animal coloration and patterning are great traits with which to study functions and consequences of variation because these highly visible phenotypes can impact every aspect of an individual’s life. Painted turtles are so named because of their yellow skin stripes and their bright orange ventral shells. Despite their name and widespread range, little is known about their color or patterns. This research addresses these gaps in knowledge in three ways. First, by identifying the function of shell coloration (Objective 1). Second, by assessing how shell coloration impacts fitness (Objective 2). Third, by characterizing the variation in the shell patterns (Objective 3). Objective 1 will be investigated by manipulating the pigment content of turtle eggs in the nest and assessing the impact on antioxidant capacity. The researchers hypothesize that the carotenoids that are responsible for the bright orange shell color have a role in mitigating oxidative stress during recovery from overwintering. This hypothesis and the associated methods are built on previous work and pilot data. Objective 2 will be investigated by taking advantage of a natural experiment, by comparing both the population-level survival trajectories and the individual-level survival of two populations of painted turtles with similar pigment concentrations but different colorations. Lastly, Objective 3 will be studied by assessing intra-clutch, intrapopulation, and interpopulation variance in shell pattern using geometric morphometrics and neural networks. This latter objective will be done in collaboration with a software firm that can provide training and internships to students.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.