Molecular Evolution of Genes Expressed in D. Melanogaster Sperm Storage Structures.

本项目旨在研究雌性黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）精子储存器官（SSOs）的基因表达。sso可能在一系列进化现象中发挥重要作用，包括共同进化和物种形成。考虑到d.m anogaster作为进化和遗传研究模型的突出作用，令人惊讶的是，我们对sso中特征性表达的基因的进化知之甚少，对这些基因的功能知之甚少。研究人员将检查一组这些基因的功能，这些基因由分子进化数据、分子群体遗传数据和表明某些基因在精子储存中起直接作用的信息所定义。本项目产生的序列将及时存入NCBI/GenBank公共数据库。将建立一个项目网站，提供有关研究进展的信息，并向研究界提供所有序列数据。赠款将以各种方式促进教育成果。首先，研究生和本科生都将参与研究。其次，共同负责人（Moriyama）将把项目中使用的统计方法和结果纳入她的课程。第三，PI（哈什曼）将扩大他的荣誉人类遗传学课程和研究生课程的人口遗传成分。

This project is designed to investigate genes expressed in sperm storage organs (SSOs) in female Drosophila melanogaster. SSOs potentially play an important role in a range of evolutionary phenomena including co-evolution and speciation. Given the prominent role of D. melanogaster as a model for evolutionary and genetic studies, it is surprising that so little is known about the evolution of genes characteristically expressed in SSOs and that little is known about the function of these genes. The investigators will examine the function of a set of these genes defined by molecular evolution data, molecular population genetic data and information suggesting that certain genes play a direct role in sperm storage. The sequences generated from this project will be deposited in the public database, NCBI/GenBank, in timely manner. A project website will be developed to provide information about the progress of the research and to provide the research community access to all sequence data. The grant will contribute to educational outcomes in various ways. First, both graduate and undergraduate students will be involved in the research. Second, the co-PI (Moriyama) will incorporate statistical methods used in the project and the results into her course. Third, the PI (Harshman) will expand the population genetic component of his honors human genetics course and its graduate student counterpart.