Theoretical population and quantitative genetics: Consequences of epistasis for postzgotic isolation and seletion response

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Genetic interactions, or epistasis, are a central feature of population biology, affecting how genetic variation within populations is translated into observable differences among populations and how reproductive isolation evolves between incipient species. Both of these aspects of epistasis will be studied using a combination of mathematical and computational analyses. Over the past decade, it has become increasingly clear that deleterious interactions between genetic variants that have been favored by natural selection within independently evolving lineages often cause inviability and sterility of hybrids. These genetic incompatibilities produce repeatable patterns of hybrid dysfunction. By relating mathematical models to more than 100 years of data on hybrid dysfunction, one can understand the number and nature of the genetic incompatibilities that are a key aspect of the origin of species. The existing genetic models describing both hybrid dysfunction and population change are highly idealized. Hence, the robustness of their conclusions must be tested with more general models. This research will develop biologically informed mathematical models that make testable predictions that can be used by researchers studying the origin of species and the responses of populations to natural and artificial selection. The research will be integrated with an NSF-funded ?mathematics and biology? training grant for undergraduates and will foster international collaboration and the training of graduate students and postdoctorals in the US and abroad.