Phylogenetic Utility of Rapidly Evolving Mammalian Reproductive Proteins

加州大学河滨分校的约翰·盖特西博士获得了一项资助，用于研究哺乳动物生殖蛋白基因的进化。最近，在几个哺乳动物物种中发现了对受精起重要作用的“生殖蛋白”。初步研究表明，这些蛋白质中的许多都是卵子和精子特有的，进化速度很快。在这项拟议的研究中，现代分子技术将被用来调查几种偶趾蹄哺乳动物的生殖蛋白基因序列。这些数据将被用来更好地描述哺乳动物生殖蛋白的分子进化模式，确定这些分子中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。盖特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获得第一手经验外，学生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。联合研究小组将通过在基因水平上探索生殖这一进化生物学的基础，产生与不同生物子学科相关的基础数据。对生殖蛋白的详细了解对于人类生育和不孕的研究也很重要。这项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。对这些物种和近亲的生殖分子进行比较分析，将有助于生殖的实验研究。

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.