The genetic architecture of colour polymorphism and speciation

物种形成是物种分化并变得不同的过程，是推动生物多样性和达尔文“神秘之谜”的引擎。在具有多种、离散、共存的颜色形式的物种中，物种形成被加速；然而，支撑这种模式的遗传机制尚不清楚。该项目旨在确定不同颜色形式背后的基因，以及它们如何在基因组中分布。该项目计划测试这样一种预测，即基因组的这些相同区域在正在成为不同物种的谱系之间显示出明显的差异。这样做可能会大大有助于我们理解脊椎动物的物种形成、潜在的遗传机制和产生颜色变化的基因。

Speciation, the process by which populations diverge and become distinct, is the engine that drives biodiversity and Darwin's 'mystery of mysteries'. Speciation is accelerated in species with multiple, discrete, coexisting colour forms; yet the genetic mechanisms underpinning this pattern are not known. This project aims to identify the genes underlying different colour forms and how they are distributed across the genome. The project plans to test the prediction that these same areas of the genome show marked divergence between lineages that are in the process of becoming distinct species. Doing so may contribute significantly to our understanding of speciation, underlying genetic mechanisms, and genes generating colour variation in vertebrates.