ABR: Evolutionary Genetics of Salmonid Fishes

这项研究的长期目标是了解鲑科鱼类（鳟鱼、鲑鱼、灰鲑、鳕鱼和白鱼）进化变化的遗传基础。North博士将继续研究虹鳟鱼肝脏特异性磷酸糖脲酶基因表达差异的表型影响，以及形态变异的发育遗传基础。将启动两项新的研究。第一项研究的目的是验证线粒体DNA基因型不具有表型效应的假设，因此是选择性中性的。证明mtDNA受自然选择的影响将对广泛使用mtDNA作为遗传变异和群体结构研究的标记具有重要意义。第二项新研究将测试先前观察到的多位点杂合效应是由所检查的位点引起的，还是由紧密相连的染色体片段引起的。这项工作的主要意义是增加了我们对遗传变异在基因调控和表达中的表型效应和进化重要性的理解。此外，多位点杂合性的研究将为自然群体遗传变异的显著性提供重要的检验手段。研究结果将应用于鳟鱼和鲑鱼种群的管理，以及生物多样性的保护。

The long range goal of the research is to gain an understanding of the genetic basis of evolutionary change in salmonid fishes (trout, salmon, grayling, char, and whitefish). Dr. North will continue his study of the phenotypic effects of differences in the liver-specific expression of a phosphoglucomutase gene in rainbow trout and on the developmental genetic basis of morphological variation. Two new studies will be initiated. The objective of the first study is to test the assumption that mitochondrial DNA genotypes do not have phenotypic effects, and therefore, are selectively neutral. Demonstration that mtDNA is subject to natural selection would have important implications for the widespread use of mtDNA as a marker for studies of genetic variation and population structure. The second new study will test if previously observed effects of multiple locus heterozygosity is caused by the loci examined or by closely linked chromosomal segments. The major significance of this work is increasing our understanding of the phenotypic effects and evolutionary importance of genetic variation in the regulation and expression of genes. Furthermore, the studies with multiple locus heterozygosity will provide an important test of the significance of genetic variation in natural populations. Results will be applied to the management of trout and salmon populations, as well as to the conservation of biological diversity.