Population Biology and Evolution of an Androgen Regulated Gene

每个基因都有两个基本属性。它决定了蛋白质的结构并受到调控。它所产生的蛋白质的结构决定了它的功能——它是生物体的一个结构部分，还是它可以作为代谢反应的催化剂。如果它是一种催化剂，那么它的结构就决定了它所催化的代谢反应。基因的调节决定了每种细胞类型中产生多少蛋白质，以及蛋白质的产生如何随着激素因素而变化。正是基因调控特性的差异，使得像我们这样的复杂生物体能够由多种细胞类型组成，每种细胞类型都有不同的功能。如果没有这些调节上的差异，就不可能产生不同的组织，比如肌肉和胰腺，它们的生理功能非常不同。目前的进化理论认为，基因调控的变化在进化过程中起着极其重要的作用，尤其是在进化特别迅速的群体中，如灵长类动物。尽管如此，由于技术上的限制，人们对基因调控进化的了解远远少于对蛋白质结构进化的了解。该提案是利用我们对基因调控分子机制的理解的最新进展来帮助弥补这一缺陷的一项努力。要研究的实验系统是一种被称为b -葡萄糖醛酸酶的基因，它被认为与信息素的代谢产生有关，信息素是动物之间改变交配和生产行为的化学信号。该基因受男性性激素睾丸激素的调控，并提供了一个有利的实验系统，因为调控的分子细节已被很好地理解。这些特定的实验旨在更精确地确定基因进化过程中发生的调节变化的本质，并阐明导致基因表达进化的潜在遗传变化的本质。这项工作将在已知基因的调节特性正在迅速进化的小鼠物种中进行。

Every gene has two essential attributes. It determines the structure of a protein and it is regulated. The structure of the protein it produces determines its function - whether it is a structural part of the organism or whether it can serve as a catalyst of a metabolic reaction. If it is a catalyst, the structure determines exactly what metabolic reaction it catalyzes. The regulation of the gene determines how much of the protein is produced in each cell type and how the production of the protein changes in response to hormonal factors. It is differences in the regulatory properties of genes that allow complex organisms like ourselves to be composed of many cell types, each with a different function. Without these differences in regulation it would not be possible to produce diverse tissues, such as muscle and pancreas that have very different physiological functions. Current evolutionary theory suggests that changes in gene regulation have been extremely important in evolution, particularly among groups, such as primates, that have evolved especially rapidly. Despite this, because of technical limitations, much less is understood about the evolution of gene regulation than has been learned about the evolution of protein structure. The proposal is an effort to exploit recent advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation to help remedy this deficiency. The experimental system to be studied is a gene, called B-glucuronidase, that is thought to be involved in the metabolic production of pheromones, chemical signals between animals that alter their mating and productive behavior. This gene is regulated by the male sex hormone testosterone and provides a favorable experimental system because the molecular details of the regulation are well understood. The specific experiments are designed to determine more precisely the nature of the regulatory changes that are occurring in the evolution of this gene, and to clarify the nature of the underlying genetic changes that bring about this evolution of gene expression. The work will be carried on among mouse species where the regulatory properties of the gene are known to be evolving rapidly.