Female reproductive and behavioural plasticity in response to socio-sexual environment

表型可塑性是生物体根据其生物和/或非生物环境的提示改变其发育、生理和/或行为的能力。这种现象通常被认为是适应性的，如果它导致个体采用比固定策略更适合当地条件的适应度最大化策略。表型可塑性既包括受自然选择影响的性状，也包括受性选择影响的初级和次级生殖性状。迄今为止，生殖可塑性的研究主要围绕着可塑性对男性生殖特征的原因、限制和后果，而对女性的关注较少。然而，有无数的方式，女性的行为表型可能会表现出可塑性（可能是适应性），以应对她们的身体和/或社会环境。这一建议的重点是检查表型可塑性在女性决策中的表达，以及对她们自己、她们的配偶、她们的后代和一般人群的影响。研究将使用果蝇种群（Drosophila melanogaster）进行，果蝇是研究雄性生殖表型可塑性的一个有价值的模型，也越来越多地用于理解决策的进化。在我们的种群中，繁殖成功率可以有意义地量化，生物和/或非生物环境可以有效地操纵。许多强大的遗传工具可以用来梳理参与介导表型可塑性反应的因素。计划中的研究将建立在我的团队之前的发现基础上，并使用我们开发的工具/技术，以新的方式测量表型可塑性。我们将测量女性在竞争和非竞争环境中的偏好（对配偶，对产卵地点），以及在我们操纵个体个人历史的环境中。我们将研究其社会群体的组成/质量的影响，并对后代的生产和适应性进行后续分析。我们还将利用D. melanogaster的细胞遗传学克隆系统，使我们能够分离、复制和繁殖整个单倍体基因组，并在随机的“半克隆”遗传背景中表达它们。通过创建大量的无性系，并“按需”生产半无性系，我们将能够探索和量化表达表型可塑性性状的遗传变异程度。我们将能够比较来自不同系的半克隆的表型，以及每个系在不同条件下发育的表型，或经历不同的生物/非生物环境。这项研究将为HQP提供发展他们的科学技能的机会，并将有助于填补我们这个领域关于雌性果蝇对环境变化的可塑性反应潜力的理解的重要缺失部分。

Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of organisms to alter their development, physiology and/or behaviour in response to cues in their biotic and/or abiotic environment. This phenomenon is generally thought to be adaptive if it leads to individuals adopting a fitness-maximizing strategy that is better suited to local conditions compared to a fixed strategy. Phenotypic plasticity can involve traits subject to natural selection, as well as primary and secondary reproductive traits subject to sexual selection. To date, the study of reproductive plasticity has largely revolved around the causes, limitations, and consequences of plasticity to male reproductive traits, with less attention directed towards females. However, there are countless ways in which female behavioural phenotypes may exhibit plasticity (possibly adaptively) in response to their physical and/or social environments. This proposal focuses on examining the expression of phenotypic plasticity in decisions made by females, and the consequences to themselves, their mates, their offspring, and the population in general. Studies will be conducted using populations of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), a valuable model for the study of reproductive phenotypic plasticity in males, which is also increasingly being used to understand the evolution of decision making. In our populations, reproductive success can be meaningfully quantified, and biotic and/or abiotic environments can be effectively manipulated. Many powerful genetic tools can be used to tease apart the factors involved in mediating phenotypically plastic responses. Planned studies will build on my group's previous discoveries and use tools/techniques we have developed to measure phenotypic plasticity in novel ways. We will measure female preferences (for mates, for oviposition sites) in competitive and non-competitive environments and in environments where we have manipulated the individuals' personal histories. We will examine the impact of the composition/qualities of their social group, and conduct follow up assays of offspring production and fitness. We will also make use of the D. melanogaster cytogentic cloning system that allows us to isolate, replicate, and propagate ~whole haploid genomes, and express them in a random "hemiclonal" genetic backgrounds. By creating numerous clone lines, and producing hemi-clones `on demand', we will be able to explore and quantify the extent of genetic variation present for traits that express phenotypic plasticity. We will be able to compare the phenotypes of hemiclones from different lines, and the phenotypes from each line developing under different conditions, or experiencing different biotic/abiotic environments. This research will provide HQP with the opportunity to develop their scientific skills, and will help fill in important missing pieces of our field's understanding regarding the potential for female Drosophila to respond plastically to environmental variation.