NSF Award
2423115
Biological evolution is possible only when variation exists within a species. In order to better understand such biological change, ideally both the genetic basis of these variations and the evolutionary forces acting on them need to be well characterized. However, until recently, such research has been impossible or prohibitively costly. Leveraging a fascinatingly variable species and recent technological advances, the goal of this research project is to better understand the evolutionary drivers of diverse phenotypes (appearances) among individuals within a single species. In order to explore this phenomenon of phenotypic diversity the project will focus on a species of poison frog for which phenotype is of critical importance to the survival of the individual by warning away predators. This project will identify the genetic factors responsible for phenotypic differences among individuals so that both the means by which genetic mutations may effect these changes and the forces of evolution that permit such variation can be better understood. The project will include the training of a diverse group of undergraduate students and outreach to area primary and secondary schools.<br/><br/>In order to fully appreciate the role of population level phenomena (natural and sexual selection) on the process of interpopulation diversification, this work seeks to characterize the demographic structure of populations of the poison frog species Dendrobates tinctorius. This species is of particular interest because of the extreme degree of interpopulation variation observed in its color and pattern, traits that have been shown to have evolved to warn predators of the frog's toxicity. As an aposematic species, the radical phenotypic polytypism observed in this species seems counterintuitive. This research will leverage a newly-available, high-quality genome assembly for D. tinctorius with new genome sequences of >100 individuals from throughout the geographic range to better understand the population structure of this polytypic species. Further, these new low- and medium-coverage genomes will be used to explore the genetic basis of phenotypic traits associated with the aposematic signal of D. tinctorius (color, pattern). Together these data will provide unprecedented insight the interplay between selection and population structure in the process of evolution and speciation.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
