Eco-Evo-Devo and the origin of novelty in complex biological systems

我研究的长期目标是了解复杂生物系统中的新特征是如何产生和多样化的。这是进化生物学中的一个核心问题，100多年来一直没有得到解决。我的研究计划是在生态-进化-发育的新兴领域的前沿，它整合了生态学，进化和发育生物学的传统独立领域。该领域的一个主要重点是了解基因和环境如何在发育过程中相互作用，以产生新的功能，以及这些功能如何随后在其生态环境中多样化。我们专注于蚂蚁的一个关键形态特征-工人种姓-其起源和多样化增强了他们的劳动分工，因此，他们的生态和进化的成功。我将利用最近的几个发现，这些发现已经开始揭示新的工蚁种姓是如何在蚂蚁进化的3个主要形态转变中起源的。这些转变标志着蚂蚁社会复杂性的逐步增加，首先是（1）真社会性（真正的社会行为）的起源;其次是（2）“不归点”（当真社会性变得不可逆转时，因为工人的生殖能力显着降低）;最后是（3）单一工人种姓的多样化成为一个复杂的形态和行为亚种姓系统。在接下来的五年里，我们将启动3个项目，旨在了解蚂蚁进化中3个主要转变的发展机制。这三个项目将使用生态-进化-发展的综合方法（分子和发育生物学，内分泌学，基因组学，实地考察，人口和比较生物学和行为学）：

THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF MY RESEARCH PROGRAM IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW NOVEL FEATURES ORIGINATE AND DIVERSIFY IN COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS. This a central problem in evolutionary biology that has remained largely unresolved for over 100 years. My research program is on the leading edge of the emerging field of Eco-Evo-Devo, which integrates the traditionally separate fields of ecology, evolution, and developmental biology. A main focus of this field is to understand how genes and environment interact during development to generate novel features and how these features subsequently diversify in their ecological environments. We focus on a key morphological trait in ants – the worker caste – whose origin and diversification has enhanced their division of labor, and consequently, their ecological and evolutionary success. I will capitalize on several recent discoveries that have started to uncover how novel worker castes originated during 3 major morphological transitions in ant evolution. These transitions mark the progressive increase in complexity of ant societies beginning with (1) the origin of eusociality (true social behavior); followed by (2) the ‘point of no return’ (when eusociality becomes irreversible because the reproductive capacity of workers is significantly reduced); and culminating in (3) the diversification of a single worker caste into a complex system of morphological and behavioral subcastes. Over the next five years, we will initiate 3 projects that aim to understand the developmental mechanisms underlying 3 major transitions in ant evolution. These 3 projects will use the integrative approaches of Eco-Evo-Devo (molecular and developmental biology, endocrinology, genomics, fieldwork, population and comparative biology and behavior):