Phylogenetic Utility of Rapidly Evolving Mammalian Reproductive Proteins

加州大学河滨分校（University of California, Riverside）的约翰·盖茨西博士（Dr. John Gatesy）获得了一笔资助，用于研究哺乳动物生殖蛋白基因的进化。近年来，对受精起重要作用的“生殖蛋白”已在几种哺乳动物中被鉴定出来。初步研究表明，这些蛋白质中的许多，包括卵子和精子特异性的，都以快速的速度进化。本研究将利用现代分子技术对几种偶蹄类哺乳动物的生殖蛋白基因序列进行研究。这些数据将用于更好地表征哺乳动物生殖蛋白的分子进化模式，确定这些分子的哪些区域容易发生突变，并测试生殖蛋白是否有助于重建哺乳动物的进化史。盖茨西博士将在这个多学科项目的背景下指导加州大学河滨分校的本科生团队。除了在潮湿的实验室中获得第一手经验外，学生们还将把他们的实验室工作与图书馆研究和计算机分析结合起来。合并后的研究小组将从遗传层面对进化生物学的基础生殖进行探索，从而获得与多种生物学科相关的基础数据。详细了解生殖蛋白对人类生育和不孕症的研究也很重要。本研究中使用的一些物种（牛、绵羊、山羊）是生育研究的标准模式生物。对这些物种及其近亲的生殖分子进行比较分析将有助于生殖实验研究。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. John Gatesy at the University of California, Riverside to study the evolution of reproductive protein genes in mammals. Recently, "reproductive proteins" that are important for fertilization have been characterized in several mammalian species. Preliminary studies suggest that many of these proteins, both egg and sperm-specific, have evolved at a rapid rate. In this proposed research, modern molecular techniques will be used to survey reproductive protein gene sequences from several species of even-toed hoofed mammals. These data will be used to better characterize the pattern of molecular evolution in mammalian reproductive proteins, to determine which regions of these molecules are prone to mutation, and to test whether reproductive proteins are useful for reconstructing the evolutionary history of mammals. Dr. Gatesy will mentor teams of undergraduate students at the University of California, Riverside within the context of this multidisciplinary project. In addition to getting first-hand experience in a wet lab, the students will integrate their laboratory work with library research and computer analysis. The combined research group will produce basic data that are relevant to diverse biological sub-disciplines by exploring reproduction, a foundation of evolutionary biology, at the genetic level. A detailed understanding of reproductive proteins also is important for studies of human fertility and infertility. Some of the species utilized in this study (cow, sheep, goat) are standard model organisms for fertility research. Comparative analyses of reproductive molecules from these species and close relatives will facilitate experimental research on reproduction.