DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Population Genetics of Genes Important in Female Responses to Mating in Drosophila melanogaster

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In Drosophila and many other animal and plant taxa, interactions between males and females that occur after mating can have huge impacts on reproductive success. For example, Drosophila seminal fluid proteins cause increases in female egg-laying rate, female death rate, and reductions in female re-mating. The goal of this work by Dr. David Begun and Mara Lawniczak is to gain an understanding of the female side of post-mating interactions. Female-expressed genes contributing to the outcome of sperm competition will be investigated genetically and molecularly. The evolutionary forces acting on these genes will be analyzed using population genetics. Sexual selection can be a major force in driving evolutionary change in some organisms, including humans. The proposed research will contribute to identification of mechanisms of sexual selection, of biochemical classes of proteins involved in male-female interactions, and of the population genetic signatures of genes under sexual selection. All of these results may find broader application in the study of human reproductive biology.