How complex traits and behaviors originate and diversify during evolution is a major question in biology. Bioluminescence, the production of light by living organisms, occurs in many different animal taxa. Marine ostracods, tiny shrimp-like crustaceans, use light for both avoiding predators and for behavioral displays. Over 64 bioluminescent flashing patterns have been observed throughout the Caribbean but only one third of the species have been collected and described scientifically. The proposed research will bring together a group of collaborators from institutions in Wisconsin and California to investigate the diversity of bioluminescent ostracods in the Caribbean and address how bioluminescence and complex behavioral displays have evolved within the group. Research will involve students and faculty at multiple stages in their careers, archivists of digital and morphological materials, and members of the science education media. The timing of this research is especially crucial as the assembled team of researchers includes two emeritus experts on bioluminescent ostracods who will participate in field collections and taxonomy workshops. The products of this research will include a diverse group of newly trained undergraduate and graduate students, a large comprehensive data set of newly described species that will be shared publically through museum and online curation, advancement in the bioinformatic analysis of transcriptome DNA and behavioral traits, and a better understanding of the link between genetics and complex trait evolution.
This collaborative project by researchers at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, California State University - Los Angeles, and University of California - Santa Barbara will use a diverse set of complimentary techniques to investigate phylogenetic relationships within Cypridinidae and the evolution of bioluminescence and complex behavioral displays. Specific aims are: 1) to reconstruct a new data rich phylogeny of Cypridinidae based on transcriptome datasets from 71 different species, 2) calculate divergence times and diversification rates within the group, 3) test for correlation between bioluminescent behavioral displays and diversification rates, and 4) investigate the molecular evolution of luciferase, the protein that catalyzes the light reaction. Understanding the biochemical origins and properties of luminescent chemicals is important because cypridinid luciferases are widely used as reporter genes in molecular biology and medicine.
