# When genomes collide: using hybrid zones to transform our understanding ofbehavioral and speciation genetics

> **NIH NIH R35** · COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE · 2024 · $398,406

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The overall objective of research being pursued in the Delmore lab is to understand the genetics of behavior
and speciation. Behavioral traits are tightly linked to fitness, human health, and disease but knowledge of their
genetic basis is limited and has been hindered by several challenges, including their complexity (e.g.,
integration of many traits that are mediated by tissue-specific pathways) and limited expression in captive
animal models. Similar gaps in our knowledge of speciation exist and relate to shortcomings in approaches
used to identify reproductive isolation at the genomic level. Evolutionary processes involved in speciation (e.g.,
adaptation, admixture and genomic conflict) are important for understanding individual- and population-level
patterns of human disease risk. The Delmore lab is using natural hybrid zones – areas where divergent
populations interbreed – and recent advances in genomics to overcome challenges associated with studying
the genetics of behavior and speciation. Recombination in hybrid zones isolates the effects of individual
genetic loci, providing an entry point to identify genetic variants underlying behavioral variation exhibited by
natural populations. Differences in behavior often help maintain species boundaries at hybrid zones, permitting
simultaneous work on speciation genetics, including new approaches for estimating reproductive isolation. The
Delmore lab has developed a migratory divide between songbirds as a model to understand the genetics of
seasonal migratory behavior and speciation. Migratory divides are hybrid zones between populations that differ
in several migratory traits (e.g., the timing and direction of migration). Migratory traits have a strong genetic
basis and differences in these traits help maintain species boundaries. The Delmore lab recently established
the infrastructure to quantify migratory traits reliably in both the field and lab. They can match these phenotypic
data with information from multiple molecular levels and specific brain regions. This system will be leveraged to
study the genetics of migration and speciation in the present proposal. An innovative multi-pronged approach
will be used, integrating results from admixture mapping and population genomics in natural populations with
laboratory examinations of gene regulation and functional analyses. By supplementing these results with
comparative analyses, members of the Delmore lab will test the generality of their findings and continue
identifying untapped avenues for future research. Together, these findings will provide unprecedented insight
into genetic mechanisms that shape seasonal behavior and speciation and address several fundamental
questions in evolutionary genetics, such as the role of pleiotropy in coordinating multiple traits, the sources and
types of genetic variation underlying phenotypic traits, the contribution of multi-locus interactions to speciation,
and whether molecular mechanisms ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11224928
- **Project number:** 7R35GM151012-03
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE
- **Principal Investigator:** Kira Delmore
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $398,406
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11224928

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11224928, When genomes collide: using hybrid zones to transform our understanding ofbehavioral and speciation genetics (7R35GM151012-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11224928. Licensed CC0.

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