鸡形目野生鸟类羽冠特征分子进化机理研究

项目名称： 鸡形目野生鸟类羽冠特征分子进化机理研究

项目编号： No.31471993

项目类型： 面上项目

立项/批准年度： 2015

项目学科： 动物学

项目作者： 詹祥江

作者单位： 中国科学院动物研究所

项目金额： 90万元

中文摘要： 雄性动物绚丽多彩的形态特征的进化机理是进化生物学领域热点之一。羽冠是很多鸟类的一个显著外形特征。羽冠特征也是一类很好地了解表型性状与其潜在遗传机制的研究模型，同时种上水平的羽冠变异模式还反应了基因的分子进化机理。但就目前而言，羽冠表型与羽冠基因相关性的研究较少，且多集中于与人类关系密切的个别家养物种里，对经受巨大选择压力的野外种类的研究尚属空白。鸡形目（Galliformes）是鸟类羽冠表型多样性的最好代表之一。本研究首次选取我国野生鸡形目不同种类的羽冠特征, 开展基因型与表型关联性及其分子进化机理的综合性研究。通过多基因、多物种的对比分析，探讨控制鸡形目不同属物种羽冠变异（表型）的分子遗传基础（基因型），揭示羽冠基因型与表型的关联，进而厘清鸡形目鸟类羽冠多态性的适应性进化机制。其结果将为更好地了解鸡形目鸟类表型多样化提供一个新途径，也将由此为其他物种表型进化遗传学工作提供借鉴和示范。

中文关键词： 性选择；表型；基因型；羽冠；外显子组

英文摘要： For evolutionary biologists, the evolutionary mechanism of diversified morphs in male animals has been always a research hot spot. In birds, the feather-crested head is a prominent feature exhibited by many species. It is considered as a good model to study the association between phenotype and genotype. The crest variations above species can also reflect the molecular evolution of underlying genes. Several previous studies on domesticated species (e.g. chicken or pigeons) indicated that some genes underlied the development of crest phenotypes, but it remains unknown for wild birds. Galliformes are among the birds which have the most diversified crest phenotype. Here, in order to gain insights into the evolution of crests of galliforme birds, we propose to study the wild pheasants with different crest phenotype. Using multiple genes for multiple species, we will study the molecular basis for crest phenotypic variations among different pheasant genus and/or species and examine the association between crest phenotype and genotypes, with the aim to elucidate the adaptive evolution of pheasant crests. Our results will present a new way to understand the diversification of galliformes phenotype, and provide a model for studying the phenotype evolution of other animals.

英文关键词： Sexual selection;Phenotype;Genotype;Crest;Exome