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，男性生育能力所需的基因在他们的基因组中四处移动。一个典型的例子是果蝇，在大多数果蝇物种中，位于Y染色体上的雄性生殖因子已经转移到一个小的非性染色体上。这一发现令人震惊，因为与男性相关的基因通常会迁移到Y染色体上，而不是远离Y染色体。提出的分析将使用最新的DNA测序技术，计算机模拟和建模技术来阐明涉及这种基因运动的结构变化。该项目最初是与巴西里约热内卢联邦大学的教员Bernardo Carvalho博士合作开展的。他每年都要来两周，有时还会带一个实验室的学生，所以目前的提议可以被视为另一项积极的国际合作的辅助。这项研究是Amanda Larracuente博士论文的核心，该领域之前的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。男性不育症是一种常见的遗传疾病，在这一水平上对模型系统的研究为为什么人群保持y连锁男性不育症的观察水平提供了线索。

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.