The genetic basis of individual differences

我的研究计划的目的是利用种群/数量遗传学和基因组学研究野生动物种群纵向研究中个体差异的遗传基础。我们使用微卫星DNA标记来重建谱系，估计近亲繁殖和亲缘关系，并生成连锁图，以确定基因组中可能存在适应性变异的区域。我们还开发了特定基因的单核苷酸多态性（SNP）标记，这一活动已通过相关模型和非模型分类群的快速扩展基因组资源和超高通量DNA测序而得到促进。这项工作是与从事标记个体长期研究的野外生态学家合作完成的。长期研究对于研究在全范围自然变化的环境条件下表达的遗传变异具有突出的价值。在接下来的五年里，我们将重点关注五个长期研究人群。我们现在有部分谱系，广泛的组织和DNA收集，以及大角羊（公羊山，AB），山羊（Caw Ridge， AB），红松鼠（Kluane， YK），北极熊（西哈德逊湾，MB）和灰海豹（黑貂岛，NS）丰富表型信息的数据库。在这些种群中，我们将研究关键表型性状的遗传结构，如大角羊的角生长、山羊的体型、红松鼠的生存和生长、北极熊的身体状况以及灰海豹的母性表现。我相信这项工作是重要的和开创性的，因为它将该领域的个人长期研究与传统的遗传分析和前沿的基因组方法相结合。在加拿大，很少有其他项目能像这样很好地研究野生生物和基因组学的结合。我们的目标不仅是遗传表征个体差异和表型变异的本质，而且最终测试关于适应和进化反应的假设，以改变环境条件和人为影响。我希望这一研究项目将促进该领域从传统的保护遗传学向保护基因组学的新时代的过渡。

The aim of my research programme is to study the genetic basis of individual differences in longitudinal studies of wildlife populations using population/quantitative genetics and genomics. We do this using microsatellite DNA markers to reconstruct pedigrees, estimate inbreeding and relatedness, and to produce linkage maps in order to identify regions of the genome that may harbour adaptive variation. We also develop single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for specific genes, an activity that has been facilitated by rapidly expanding genomic resources in related model and non-model taxa and ultra high-throughput DNA sequencing. This work is made possible by collaboration with field ecologists working on long-term studies of marked individuals. Long-term studies have outstanding value for studying genetic variation expressed over the full range of naturally variable environmental conditions. Over the next five years we will focus on five long-term study populations. We now have partial pedigrees, extensive tissue and DNA collections, and databases of rich phenotypic information for bighorn sheep (Ram Mountain, AB), mountain goats (Caw Ridge, AB), red squirrels (Kluane, YK), polar bears (Western Hudson Bay, MB) and grey seals (Sable Island, NS). In these populations we will study the genetic architecture of key phenotypic traits such as horn growth in bighorn sheep, body size in mountain goats, survival and growth in red squirrels, body condition in polar bears, and maternal performance in grey seals. I believe that this work is significant and pioneering because it integrates the long-term study of individuals in the field with traditional genetic analyses and leading edge genomic approaches. Few other programmes are as well placed for working at this interface of wildlife biology and genomics in Canada. We aim to not only genetically characterize individual differences and the nature of phenotypic variation, but to ultimately test hypotheses about adaptation and evolutionary responses to changing environmental conditions and anthropogenic influences. I hope that this research programme will stimulate the transition of the field from traditional conservation genetics to a new era of conservation genomics.