Dissertation Research: Comparative Y Chromosome Diversity and Evolution in the Hominoidea

锤子9801498 分子工具在进化和人类学问题中的应用在理解人类和类人猿的进化中起着重要作用。在过去的十年里，人们对人类的遗传变异进行了大量的研究，同时也对这种变异的水平和模式的意义进行了激烈的科学辩论。为了增加我们对人类进化的历史背景以及它在过去几百万年中是如何形成的理解，必须建立一个比较进化框架，以探索人类以及我们最近的近亲类人猿的遗传变异。 这项研究建议量化父系遗传的Y染色体遗传变异的数量以及普通黑猩猩，侏儒黑猩猩，大猩猩和猩猩中多样性的地理分布，以便（1）提供一个比较框架，以便更好地理解现代人类中多样性模式和水平的意义，以及（2）更好地了解现有种群之间的进化关系和联系 在这些濒危物种的保护和圈养繁殖的目的。可能影响Y染色体变异水平和模式的因素，以及随后推断的种群、亚种和物种的进化关系，如性别特异性交配和迁移行为与Y染色体地理结构之间的一致性，将被研究，关于进化过程本身的假设也将被研究。 最近对母系遗传的线粒体DNA的研究已经开始量化遗传变异的水平以及人类和类人猿物种内部和之间这种变异的地理分布。 与类人猿物种（特别是大猩猩和猩猩）相比，人类的线粒体遗传多样性相对较低，这表明人类进化史上存在一些独特的事件。 然而，任何一个单一的遗传标记所暗示的遗传多样性的历史关系和水平可能准确地反映了种群和物种的历史，也不能反映遗传多样性的总体水平。 需要对其他遗传位点进行补充研究，以更好地了解这些群体中存在的整体遗传变异和结构。 作为对人类整体遗传变异的理解 直接联系到这些群体的进化历史之间的相似性和差异的理解增加，这种父系遗传变异和人口历史的比较评估将提供更深入的了解人类以及黑猩猩，大猩猩和猩猩的进化历史。

Hammer 9801498 The application of molecular tools to evolutionary and anthropological questions plays an important role in understanding human and great ape evolution. The past decade has fostered a tremendous amount of research into genetic variation within humans, accompanied by vigorous scientific debate about the significance of the levels and patterns of that variation. To increase our understanding of the historical context of human evolution and how it has been shaped over the last several million years, a comparative evolutionary framework that explores the genetic variation in humans as well as in our closest living relatives, the great apes, must be generated. This study proposes to quantify the amount of paternally-inherited Y chromosome genetic variation and the geographic distribution of that diversity in common chimpanzees, pygmy chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans in order to (1) provide a comparative framework with which to better understand the significance of patterns and levels of diversity seen in modern humans, and (2) to better understand the evolutionary relationships and connections between populations that exist within these endangered species for conservation and captive breeding purposes. Factors that can potentially affect levels and patterns of Y chromosome variation and subsequently the deduced evolutionary relationships of populations, subspecies, and species such as the congruence between sex-specific mating and migration behaviors and Y chromosome geographic structure will be investigated, as will hypotheses about the evolutionary processes itself. Recent studies of maternally-inherited mitochondrial DNA have begun to quantify levels of genetic variation and the geographic distribution of that variation within and between humans and the great ape species. Humans have been shown to have comparatively low mitochondrial genetic diversity in comparison to the great ape species (gorillas and orangutans in particular), suggesting some unique events i n human evolutionary history. The historical relationships and levels of genetic diversity suggested by any one single genetic marker may accurately reflect both population and species history nor overall levels of genetic diversity, however. Complementary studies of other genetic loci are needed to better understand the overall genetic variation and structure present in these groups. As an understanding of overall genetic variation of humans is tied directly to an increased understanding of similarities and differences between the evolutionary histories of these groups, this comparative assessment of paternal genetic variation and population history will provide greater insight into the evolutionary history of humans as well as chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.