ИСТИНА

Сравнительный интегративный анализ природы высокого генетического полиморфизма в комплексах криптических видов морских беспозвоночных животных и между отдельными популяциями широко распространенных видов.

The project aims to study the phenomenon of high genetic polymorphism, identification of the mechanisms of biological diversity formation, study the processes of speciation and hybridization, and establishing the species boundaries in the context of modern synthetic theory of evolution, which is one of the key fundamental problems of modern biology. The aim of the proposed Project is a comparative integrative analysis of the nature of high genetic polymorphism in complexes of cryptic marine invertebrate species and between individual populations of widespread species. Various representatives of nudibranchs, demonstrating high intraspecific or small interspecific polymorphism and having a wide range, were selected as objects of research. The choice of taxa is determined by the previously obtained results on the biological and genetic diversity of widespread species. The objectives of the project include both the comparative aspect of various taxa of nudibranchs (suborders Doridina and Cladobranchia), with different geographical distribution (Arctic, Boreal and tropical taxa), and the range of applied molecular genetic methods. This will make it possible to compare their effectiveness in solving the tasks set, as well as provide a complete description of the variability and divergence of various parts of the genome (mitochondrial and nuclear), accurately assess the population structure, and identify cases of genetic isolation or hybridization of remote populations. In addition, morphological and ecological studies will be carried out within the framework of the project, which will make it possible to give an almost complete description of the studied species complexes at various levels of organization – from genomic to organismic and population. The data obtained will make it possible to clearly establish the presence or absence of gene flow between populations and unambiguously identify cases of hybridization, as well as establish common criteria and approaches for separating close, cryptic complexes of species. For the first time, complete mitochondrial genomes of representatives of the genera Cadlina, Zelentia, Pteraeolidia, and Dendronotus will be obtained and a molecular phylogenetic analysis based on them will be carried out, taking into account not only the sequences of individual genes, but also the structure of mitochondrial genomes. For the first time, sequencing will be performed using long-read technology (Nanopore, PacBio systems) and genome-wide data analysis for representatives of the genus Cadlina. For the first time, the structure of nudibranch populations will be evaluated by sequencing sequences adjacent to restriction sites using the double restriction method (ddRADseq), which will make it possible to accurately assess the population structure, as well as identify cases of genetic isolation or hybridization of remote populations. In this case, the results obtained will be compared with classical approaches to studying the structure of populations by individual mitochondrial markers (COI), as well as with the results obtained on the phylogeny of complete mitochondrial genomes.

В результате выполнения предлагаемого проекта предполагается получение системно значимых результатов, необходимых для установления объективных критериев оценки биоразнообразия морских беспозвоночных животных. Поскольку в центре предлагаемого Проекта стоит изучение явления высокого генетического полиморфизма, полученные данные не будут ограничены объектом исследования (голожаберные моллюски), а будут иметь общебиологическое значение и могут быть экстраполированы на широкий спектр таксонов.