Theoretical Studies in Ecological and Population Genetics

这项研究将为以下方面建立一个理论框架： 理解和解释两种新类型的生物数据。 第一个是关于基因搭便车。 基因搭便车 是指选定的基因对其他基因的影响， 同样的染色体，它们本身并不处于选择之下。 一个 广泛的理论研究的动态行为， 系统将有助于解决当前的实际问题， 推断出选定基因的历史起源， 物理距离和地理位置之间 分离两种DNA变体，以及它们观察到的非随机性 协会 这项研究也适用于许多 DNA序列中的遗传变异， 在人类疾病基因附近发现，例如那些负责 亨廷顿舞蹈病和囊性纤维化，以及近 果蝇自然种群中的重要基因。 另一条研究路线将提供一个理论上的 解释和利用当前数据的基础， 生物体遗传物质的两个组成部分：一个是遗传的， 通过父母双方（核DNA），另一个单亲 继承的（例如，线粒体和叶绿体DNA）。 的 在这两者之间发现了显著的非随机关联 遗传物质的种类可以，因为对比 继承模式，提供了一种全新的 关于人类、动物和 植物种群 为了利用这一独特的 信息，一个广泛的理论研究将确定什么 这两种遗传成分之间可能存在关联， 什么力量或力量的组合会导致 在自然种群中观察到的关联。 正式的统计 将同时制定程序，以测试 各种进化假说和重要的估计 生物学参数，如两个之间的迁移率， 人口数量。

This research will develop a theoretical framework for understanding and interpreting two new types of biological data. The first concerns genetic hitchhiking. Genetic hitchhiking refers to the effect of a selected gene upon other genes on the same chromosome which are not themselves under selection. An extensive theoretical study of the dynamical behavior of such systems will help resolve current practical problems ranging from deducing the historical origins of selected genes to explaining the frequent lack of correlation between the physical distance separating two DNA variants, and their observed nonrandom association. This investigation is also applicable to the many heritable variants in DNA sequences which are currently being found near disease genes in humans, such as those responsible for Huntington's chorea and cystic fibrosis, as well as near important genes in natural populations of Drosophila. The other line of research will provide a theoretical foundation for interpreting and exploiting current data involving two components of an organism's genetic material: one transmitted through both parents (nuclear DNA), the other uniparentally inherited (e.g., mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA). The significant nonrandom associations found between these two classes of genetic material can, because of the contrasting modes of inheritance, provide a qualitatively new kind of information about the evolutionary history of human, animal, and plant populations. In order to take advantage of this unique information, an extensive theoretical study will determine what associations are possible between these two genetic components, and what force or combination of forces would account for the observed associations in natural populations. Formal statistical procedures will be concurrently developed to allow the testing of various evolutionary hypotheses and the estimation of important biological parameters such as the migration rate between two populations.