This three-year, $830,162 Project Grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences will support research tracking adaptive evolution in the invasive fruit fly Zaprionus indianus in real time. NIGMS' Biomedical Research and Research Training program aims to increase understanding of biological processes and lay foundations for advances in disease diagnosis and treatment.
The University of Richmond will genetically and phenotypically characterize North American Z. indianus populations to test for local adaptation and parallel evolution during the ongoing invasion. Researchers will collect and sequence isolates along the U.S. East Coast and from two Virginia orchards over multiple years. They will quantify genetic and phenotypic variation to identify targets of post-invasion adaptation and quantify the predictability of evolution. Findings could provide frameworks for understanding rapid adaptation to novel environments and predicting evolutionary trajectories of future invasive species.
Generated 1/6/24, 7:40 PM