Genomic Conflicts and Reproductive Isolation

该项目旨在测试生殖隔离进化的两种替代遗传机制。 一种可能性假设自私的基因竞争精子的传播，而另一种假设，促进男性受精的拮抗基因对女性生殖有负面影响。这两个过程都可能导致种群内的遗传军备竞赛，这可能导致种群之间的杂交后代不育。自私基因假说将通过定位杂交不育因素来测试，以确定它们是否接近那些影响自私X染色体的传播，并通过比较染色体区域之间的DNA序列进化。拮抗基因假说将通过比较雄性和雌性生殖性状与非生殖性状的进化速率以及确定精子竞争能力是否取决于种群间的遗传差异来检验。确定生殖隔离是如何进化的对于理解物种起源至关重要。这里提出的研究是值得注意的，因为生殖隔离的替代遗传机制将进行评估，并将利用隔离种群的茎眼蝇，属Cyrtodiopsis，从东南亚。 柄眼蝇非常适合这项工作，因为表现出杂交不育，自私的性染色体和可变的遗传分歧的种群可用于研究。

This project aims to test two alternative genetic mechanisms for the evolution of reproductive isolation. One possibility assumes that selfish genes compete for transmission by sperm while an alternative assumes that antagonistic genes that facilitate male fertilization have negative effects on female reproduction. Both of these processes can cause genetic arms races within populations, which may cause hybrids between populations to be sterile. The selfish gene hypothesis will be tested by locating hybrid sterility factors to determine if they are near those that influence transmission of selfish X chromosomes and by comparing DNA sequence evolution between chromosome regions. The antagonistic gene hypothesis will be tested by comparing the rate of evolution of reproductive to nonreproductive traits in males and females and by determining if sperm competitive ability depends on genetic divergence between populations.Determining how reproductive isolation evolves is essential for understanding the origin of species. The research proposed here is notable because alternative genetic mechanisms for reproductive isolation will be evaluated and will utilize isolated populations of stalk-eyed flies, genus Cyrtodiopsis, from southeast Asia. Stalk-eyed flies are ideally suited for this work because populations that exhibit hybrid sterility, selfish sex chromosomes and variable genetic divergence are available for study.