Experimental genomics of adaptation to changing environments

迅速的环境变化已被证明导致物种灭绝率上升，从而对加拿大的生物多样性构成重大威胁。通过使用可操作的野外实验，将相关生态情景中与适应度相关的性状与潜在的遗传结构联系起来，我的研究项目具有独特的能力来评估自然种群适应不断变化的环境的进化能力。我的长期目标是解决关于适应遗传学的几个基本问题，这些问题将有助于我们建立进化变化的预测模型；这些问题包括但不限于：1)自然选择对表现型的影响有多强，这种选择是如何“过滤”到基因水平的？2)受选择影响的遗传区域如何分布在整个基因组中？3)自然选择的因果因素是什么？4)人口对环境变化的响应机制是什么？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检验。利用棘鱼和鹿鼠两个重点研究系统，我正在积极建立一个研究项目，将基于现场的选择实验与前沿分子技术相结合，重点研究两个关键领域：适应变化的环境和实验基因组学。这项提议的资助将使我能够在最新的实验基因组技术方面培训学生，并使麦吉尔大学能够在这个充满活力的新学科中参与国际竞争。这个研究项目的优势在于它的跨学科性质，整合了生态学、进化论和基因组学的方法和知识，能够预测生物系统如何应对环境变化。解决与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，直接依赖于这些生物学学科之间的交叉。

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.