Dissertation Research: The Evolutionary Persistence of Gynogenetic Lineages and the Role of Frequencey-Dependent Expression of Mating Behaviors

9701135希利斯一个更令人困惑的遗传问题是克隆物种如何通过时间来维持自己。 雌核发育物种是克隆动物，它们面临着长期生存的障碍，因为繁殖依赖于另一个物种的雄性。 一个雌核发育的物种不能孤立地生存下去;它必须与另一个物种共存，它能够在行为上寄生在另一个物种的雄性身上。 然而，这种相互作用的简单种群模型预测，雌核发育物种应该迅速灭绝。 雌核发育物种的存在表明，这些模型是不充分的描述现实。 雌核发育物种得以持续存在的一个因素是频率依赖性行为。 本研究将探讨频率依赖性行为及其在雌核发育物种维持中的作用。 将构建一个数学模型，结合频率依赖的择偶，然后将使用两种poeciliid鱼的模型进行测试：雌核发育的物种和物种后，它取决于。 该模型将建立频率依赖性交配的水平，理论上可以导致雌核发育物种和它所依赖的物种的稳定平衡。 这些实验将确定配偶选择是否依赖于频率，以及频率依赖性是否足以解释雌核发育物种和它们寄生的物种的共存。

9701135 Hillis One of the more puzzling genetic questions is how clonal species maintain themselves through time. Gynogenetic species are clonal animals that face an obstacle to long-term persistence because reproduction is dependent on males of another species. A gynogenetic species cannot persist in isolation; it must coexist with another species whose males it is capable of parasitizing behaviorally. However, simple population models of such interactions predict that gynogenetic species should rapidly become extinct. The existence of gynogenetic species indicates that these models are an insufficient description of reality. One factor that would allow the persistence of the gynogenetic species is frequency-dependent behavior. This investigation will examine frequency-dependent behaviors and their role in the maintenance of gynogenetic species. A mathematical model will be constructed that incorporates frequency-dependent mate selection, and then the model will be tested using two species of poeciliid fish: the gynogenetic specie and the species upon which it depends. The model will establish the levels of frequency-dependent mating that theoretically can result in a stable equilibrium of a gynogenetic species and the species upon which it depends. The experiments will determine if mate selection is frequency-dependent and if frequency-dependence is great enough to explain the coexistence of gynogenetic species and the species they parasitize.