Dissertation Research: The Evolution of Hybrid Incompatibility in the Beetle, Tribolium castaneum

该项目的目标是了解复杂遗传结构的进化以及它们在物种形成早期阶段所起的作用。本研究分为三个阶段：（1）从世界各地收集的面粉甲虫（Tribolium castaneum）之间进行品系杂交，以产生所有的第一和第二代杂交种。然后对这些杂交进行统计分析，以量化遗传相互作用的贡献;（2）群体结构-对于线交群体，我们将分析mtDNA序列和微卫星标记变异，以量化它们之间的遗传差异;（3）作图-将组装微卫星连锁图，以找到基因组中负责杂交不亲和性的区域。 基因相互作用对物种形成很重要，因为负的遗传相互作用是降低杂种适合度所必需的。 另一方面，商业农业成功的一个主要原因是杂交生产力的提高。 这项研究将有助于了解基因的相互作用和相关人群之间的地理和遗传差异如何导致健身在某些情况下，但在其他增加健身的理解。

The goal of this project is to understand the evolution of complex genetic architectures and the role they play in the early stages of speciation. The study involves three phases: (1) Line crosses between flour beetles (Tribolium castaneum) collected from populations around the world to produce all 1st and 2nd generation hybrids. These crosses are then analyzed statistically to quantify the contribution of genetic interactions; (2) Population structure - for the line-cross populations, we will assay mtDNA sequence and microsatellite marker variation to quantify the genetic divergence among them; and, (3) Mapping - A microsatellite linkage map will be assembled to find regions of the genome responsible for hybrid incompatibility. Gene interactions are important to speciation because negative genetic interactions are necessary to lower hybrid fitness. On the other hand, a major reason for the success of commercial agriculture is increased hybrid productivity. This study will contribute to the understanding of gene interactions and the understanding of how geographic and genetic divergence among related populations leads to decreased fitness in some cases but increased fitness in others.