Theoretical Studies in Ecological and Population Genetics

最近的人口研究表明，联合核细胞质调查可以对许多重要的进化过程进行独特的推断。这种特殊的效用源于这样一个事实，即细胞核中的基因是通过父母双方遗传的，而生物体细胞质中的基因，如线粒体和叶绿体中的基因，通常只通过母亲遗传。由于这种不对称的传播，一个群体的联合核细胞质组成可以提供一种新的方法来检测两个群体之间的遗传混合区，并揭示植物群体中花粉和种子的相对数量分散。拟议的研究将为在这些和其他重要的进化背景下解锁核细胞质数据编码的新信息提供必要的理论框架。这些新方法的实际效用将通过对各种最新数据集的直接应用来证明。一个平行的研究方向将为理解细胞质遗传模式如何以及为什么随时间进化的基本问题提供一个概念性框架。线粒体和叶绿体通过父亲或父母双方遗传，而不是仅仅通过母亲遗传的案例越来越多，这一开创性的理论研究受到了推动。此外，遗传模式可能在亲本或子代内的核或细胞质基因控制下随时间进化。这些令人兴奋的实验发现将为一系列广泛的模型奠定基础，这些模型旨在界定三种细胞质遗传模式中有利于进化的条件，并回答为什么严格的母体遗传现在似乎占主导地位这一关键而有趣的问题。

Recent population studies show that joint nuclear-cytoplasmic surveys allow unique inferences about many important evolutionary processes. This special utility derives from the fact that genes in the nucleus are inherited through both parents, while an organism's cytoplasmically-housed genes, such as those in mitochondria and chloroplasts, are usually inherited solely through the mother. As a result of this asymmetrical transmission, a population's joint nuclear-cytoplasmic makeup can provide a new way for detecting zones of genetic admixture between two populations, and for unraveling the relative amounts of pollen and seed dispersion in plant populations. The proposed research will develop the necessary theoretical framework for unlocking the novel information encoded by nuclear-cytoplasmic data in these and other important evolutionary contexts. The practical utility of these new approaches will be demonstrated by direct applications to a variety of recent data sets. A parallel line of research will provide a conceptual framework for understanding the fundamental question of how and why cytoplasmic inheritance patterns evolve through time. This seminal theoretical study is motivated by the growing number of cases in which mitochondria and chloroplasts are inherited through the father or both parents, instead of solely through the mother. Moreover, the pattern of inheritance may evolve through time under the control of nuclear or cytoplasmic genes within the parents or progeny. These exciting experimental discoveries will form the basis of an extensive series of models designed to delimit the conditions favoring evolution among the three cytoplasmic inheritance patterns, and answer the critical and intriguing question of why strict maternal transmission now seems to predominate.