DISSERTATION RESEARCH: An evolutionary genetic analysis of a Y chromosome rearrangement in Drosophila pseudoobscura

最近的研究发现，在许多情况下，男性生育力所必需的基因已经在他们的基因组中移动。 一个典型的例子是果蝇（Drosophila pseudobscura），其中大多数果蝇物种中Y染色体上的雄性生育因子已经易位到一个小的非性染色体上。 这一发现是惊人的，因为与男性相关的基因通常会转移到Y染色体上，而不是远离Y染色体。这项分析将使用最新的DNA测序技术、计算机模拟和建模技术来阐明这种基因运动所涉及的结构变化。 该项目最初是与巴西里约热内卢联邦大学教员Bernardo Carvalho博士合作开展的。 他每年继续访问两周，有时会从他的实验室带一名学生，因此目前的提议可以被认为是另一个积极的国际合作的辅助。 这项研究是阿曼达·拉拉库恩特博士学位的核心。论文，以及该领域的先前研究已经为实验室的几名本科生提供了培训和教育经验，包括Belinda Haerum和Elizabeth Larimore。 男性不育是一种常见的遗传疾病，在这一水平上对模型系统的研究提供了为什么人群保持观察到的Y连锁男性不育水平的线索。

Recent findings identify many instances in which genes necessary for male fertility have moved around in their genomes. An exemplary case of this is in the fruit fly Drosophila pseudoobscura, where the male fertility factors that are on the Y chromosome in most fruit fly species have translocated to a small non-sex chromosome. This finding is striking since male-related genes usually move onto rather than away from the Y chromosome. The analysis proposed will use the latest DNA sequencing technology, computer simulations and modeling techniques to elucidate the structural changes involved in this gene movement. This project began as a collaboration with Dr. Bernardo Carvalho, a faculty member of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. He continues to visit for two weeks each year, sometimes bringing a student from his lab, so the current proposal can be considered as ancillary to another positive international collaboration. The study is central to Amanda Larracuente's Ph.D. thesis, and the prior studies in the area have already provided training and educational experiences for several undergraduates in the lab, including Belinda Haerum and Elizabeth Larimore. Male infertility is a common genetic disorder, and studies of model systems at this level provide clues as to why populations maintain observed levels of Y-linked male sterility.