Theoretical Population and Quantitative Genetics

拟议的研究是一个数学调查两个 进化论的广泛领域：分子进化和 数量性状的进化 分子进化工作的主要目标是 理解为什么在基因上有如此多的变异， 物质，DNA，物种之间和个体之间的差异。 物种 有一种理论认为，这种变化的大部分是 毫无意义，没有任何功能性后果。 的 我们正在调查的理论认为， 变异确实有生物学后果。 我们处理 这个问题涉及到对每种理论的预测进行比较 在实际DNA序列中观察到的模式。这项工作是 对我们理解遗传变异有潜在价值 易感性被认为是由于DNA中的许多小突变或 几个大的？ 我们的工作与前者有关 可能性 数量遗传学工作的主要目标是 了解可测量性状变异的遗传基础， 例如大小或重量，在物种内和物种之间。 的 在这项工作中，一个很大的概念性问题是将 许多基因相互作用的综合效应 （通过显性和上位）， 这是以前的模型所没有的。 理论一经 它将被用来调查几个问题， 进化的兴趣。 这项工作将是非常重要的 农业，从业者需要更好的理论， 性状的遗传基础，如牛的产奶量， 经济重要性。

The proposed research is a mathematical investigation into two broad areas of evolutionary theory: molecular evolution and the evolution of quantitative traits. The primary goal of the work on molecular evolution is to understand why there is so much variation in the genetic material, DNA, between species and between individuals within a species. One theory regards most of this variation as meaningless, having no functional consequences whatsoever. The theory that we are investigating argues that most of this variation does have biological consequences. Our approach to the problem involves a comparison of the predictions of each theory to the patterns observed in actual DNA sequences. This work is of potential value for our understanding of genetic variation susceptibility be viewed as due to many small mutations in DNA or to a few large ones? Our work is relevant to the former possibility. The primary goal of the work on quantitative genetics is to understand the genetic basis of variation in measurable traits, such as size or weight, both within and between species. The great conceptual problem in this work is to formalize the combined effects of many genes to interact with one another (through dominance and epistasis) in a way that adds biological relevance that was missing from previous models. Once the theory is in place, it will be used to investigate several problems of evolutionary interest. This work will be very important for agriculture, where practitioners require better theories of the genetic basis of traits, such as milk yield in cattle, that are of economic importance.