DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Evolutionary Ecology of Resistance to Infection in Natural Populations of Drosophila

论文研究：果蝇自然种群抗感染的进化生态学

• 批准号: 0508785
• 负责人: Daniel Promislow
• 金额: $ 1.12万
• 依托单位: University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-06-01 至 2007-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0508785&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Evolutionary; Ecology; Resistance

Parasites are often patchily distributed across host populations, where some hosts are heavily parasitized, other hosts remain free from infection. Part of this variation in parasite prevalence is likely due to variation in the host's ability to resist infection. The main focus of this research is to identify factors that maintain variation in resistance to bacterial infection both within and among host populations, using the model system Drosophila melanogaster. Previous work shows that variation exists within Drosophila host populations. Using a combination of organismal and molecular approaches, the researchers extend these efforts by investigating variation across host populations, with the aim of understanding the evolutionary and ecological factors that maintain this variation.Together, these experiments will address several important questions regarding the evolution of resistance to infection and, more generally, disease dynamics in nature. This work is particularly significant because it addresses the forces maintaining variation in host resistance across broad spatial scales, and will help scientists to further develop Drosophila as a powerful model system to study the genetics of host-parasite interactions in nature. In addition, this research has direct implications for understanding the spread and prevalence of disease in a variety of host species.

寄生虫通常在宿主种群中呈斑块状分布，其中一些宿主被严重寄生，其他宿主保持无感染。寄生虫流行率的这种变化部分可能是由于宿主抵抗感染能力的变化。本研究的主要重点是确定的因素，保持内和宿主种群之间的细菌感染的抗性变化，使用模型系统果蝇。先前的研究表明，果蝇宿主种群内存在变异。通过有机体和分子方法的结合，研究人员通过研究宿主种群之间的变异来扩展这些努力，目的是了解维持这种变异的进化和生态因素。这些实验将共同解决有关感染抗性进化的几个重要问题，更普遍的是，自然界中的疾病动力学。这项工作特别重要，因为它解决了在广泛的空间尺度上维持宿主抗性变化的力量，并将帮助科学家进一步发展果蝇作为一个强大的模型系统，以研究自然界中宿主-寄生虫相互作用的遗传学。此外，这项研究对了解疾病在各种宿主物种中的传播和流行有直接影响。