EAGER: Color, Vision, and Species Delimitation in the Jewel Beetles: From Opsin Proteins to Spectral Color

Vision has evolved multiple times within animals, but the processes driving this evolution are only partially understood. This project investigates the evolution of vision within beetles, the most diverse groups of life on the planet. Many beetles are known to be significant agricultural pests and understanding how these organisms perceive their surroundings and find mates may provide new methods for controlling their spread. Jewel beetles (family name Buprestidae), otherwise known as the metallic wood-boring beetles, are a large group of charismatic insects that have captured the eye of artists, jewelry makers, and scientists alike due to their broad diversity of iridescent coloration. Jewel beetles also possess members of significant economic importance, most notably the Emerald Ash Borer - an introduced pest species that is rapidly destroying large numbers of ash trees in the U.S. Little is known about the genealogy of jewel beetles, how color vision is achieved within the group, or how the brilliant shell colors are formed. This project will reconstruct genealogical relationships within the group using DNA sequence data and then use a novel combination of experiments to better understand the physiological functions of their visual proteins (opsins). Undergraduate and graduate students will be trained in diverse field and laboratory approaches, including molecular, phylogenetic, and physiological methods. A learning module based on results from the research will also be developed for high school AP Biology courses in line with state education standards.

Jewel beetles are some of the most well-known insects, but phylogenetic relationships within the group are poorly understood. This research project will use transcriptomic data to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships to provide the evolutionary framework necessary to investigate the molecular components of color vision (e.g., opsin proteins). The sensitivity of these visual proteins will then be tested through expression in a model organism, Drosophila melanogaster, and morphological analyses will be used to explore how colors and patterns on the exoskeleton are formed. Using this novel combination of visual pigment protein transcriptomics, ectopic visual pigment expression in HEK cells and Drosophila melanogaster, and analysis of cuticular color, this integrative project will provide new insights into the evolution of vision in a poorly known, yet agriculturally important, group of beetles.

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.