Experimental genomics of adaptation to changing environments

环境的迅速变化已被证明会导致物种灭绝率的上升，从而对加拿大的生物多样性构成重大威胁。通过使用操纵现场实验，在相关的生态场景连接健身相关的性状与潜在的遗传结构，我的研究计划有一个独特的能力来评估自然种群的进化能力，以适应不断变化的环境。我的长期目标是解决适应遗传学的几个基本问题，这将有助于我们产生进化变化的预测模型的能力;这些问题包括但不限于：1）自然选择对表型的影响有多强，这种选择如何“过滤”到遗传水平？2)在整个基因组中，受选择影响的遗传区域是如何分布的？3)自然选择的动因是什么？4)人口对环境变化作出反应的机制是什么？有一些理论可以解决其中的几个问题，但我们在自然界中几乎没有经验主义的测试。利用两个关键的研究系统（棘鱼和鹿鼠），我正在积极建立一个研究计划，将基于实地的选择实验与尖端的分子技术相结合，专注于两个关键领域：适应不断变化的环境和实验基因组学。拟议的赠款将使我能够培训学生在最新的实验基因组学技术，并允许麦吉尔大学在这个充满活力的新学科的国际竞争。该研究计划的优势在于其跨学科性质，整合了生态学，进化和基因组学的方法和知识，从而能够预测生物系统将如何应对环境变化。解决气候变化相关的问题，如物种灭绝，入侵物种和社会环境健康直接取决于这些生物学科之间的交叉。

Rapid environmental change has been shown to result in elevated extinction rates and thus poses a significant threat to Canadian biodiversity. By using manipulative field experiments to connect fitness-related traits with underlying genetic architecture in relevant ecological scenarios, my research program has a unique ability to assess the evolutionary capabilities of natural populations to adapt to changing environments. My long-term goal is to address several basic questions about the genetics of adaptation that would aid our ability to generate predictive models of evolutionary change; these include but are not limited to: 1) How strong is natural selection on phenotypes, and how does this selection "filter down" to the genetic level? 2) How are the genetic regions affected by selection distributed throughout the genome? 3) What are the causal agents of natural selection? 4) What are the mechanisms underlying population responses to environmental change? There is theory addressing several of these questions, but we have few empirical tests in nature. Using two key study systems (stickleback fish and deer mice), I am actively building a research program that combines field-based selection experiments with cutting-edge molecular techniques to focus on two key areas: adaptation to changing environments and experimental genomics. The proposed grant will enable me to train students in the latest experimental genomics techniques, and allow McGill to compete internationally in this vibrant new discipline. The strength of this research program for enabling predictions about how biological systems will respond to environmental change lies in its interdisciplinary nature, integrating methods and knowledge from ecology, evolution and genomics. Solving climate change related problems such as species extinctions, invasive species, and the environmental health of society depends directly on the intersections between these disciplines of biology.