Genetic basis of reproductive and plumage polymorphism in the ruff

个体动物的行为通常表现出灵活性，但有些行为是由基因决定的。基因固定的另类行为的一个极端例子发生在涉禽身上。皱领鸟有一种“lek”交配系统，雄性把所有的精力都投入到吸引雌性与它们交配上，没有一点精力投入到照顾后代上。领地繁殖的雄性在脖子和头部周围有壮观的羽毛，颜色差异很大，所以每个雄性在lek都是可区分的。其他非领地性的“卫星”雄性，可以通过它们的白色羽毛来区分，它们专注于从领地性的雄性那里“偷取”交配。雄性是否成为领地个体或卫星个体是由基因决定的。卫星基本上是寄生在领土上的，尽管有证据表明领土可能从少量卫星的存在中受益。最近发现了第三种模仿雌性的雄性。这种寄生的雄性能够“隐藏”在其他雄性身上，从而避免了领土侵略，并且通过从常驻的雄性那里窃取交配成功。这项研究的目的是利用基因组测序来确定使雄性有这三种不同行为方式的基因。我们想了解这三种不同的策略是如何在种群中共存的，以及它们是如何进化的。我们还计划发现遗传机制，以解释为什么雄性的羽毛如此多样化。这些机制很可能与产生一些我们通常只在物种之间看到的类似变异的机制相同。最后，我们想要发现确保羽毛图案和行为共同遗传的机制。

Individual animals usually exhibit flexibility in their behaviour, but some behaviours are genetically determined. An extreme example of genetically fixed alternative behaviours occurs in a wading bird, the ruff. The ruff has a "lek" mating system in which males invest all their energy into attracting females to mate with them, and none into parental care. Territorial breeding males have spectacular plumes around their neck and head, and vary enormously in colouration, so that each male at the lek is distinguishable. Other nonterritorial "satellite" males, which are distinguishable by their white feathers, concentrate on "stealing" matings from territorial displaying males. Whether a male becomes a territorial or satellite individual is genetically determined. Satellites are essentially parasitic on territorials, though there is evidence that territorials may benefit from the presence of a small number of satellites. A third type of male, which mimics females, was recently discovered. This parasitic male is able to "hide" from the other males at the lek, so avoiding territorial aggression, and also succeeds by stealing matings from the resident males. The purpose of this study is to use genome sequencing to identify the genes that make the males behave in these three different ways. We want to understand how the three different strategies can coexist in the population, and how they have evolved. We also plan to discover the genetic mechanism to explain why males are so diverse in their plumage. These mechanisms are likely to be the same ones that produce some of the similar variation that we normally only see between species. Finally, we want to discover the mechanism that ensures that the plumage pattern and behaviour are co-inherited.