DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Genetic Basis of Recombination Rate Variation in House Mice

减数分裂是一种特殊的细胞分裂，产生精子和卵细胞，而精子和卵细胞的DNA含量是身体其他细胞的一半。重组发生在减数分裂的开始，对将DNA分配到精子和卵细胞特别重要。在重组过程中，具有高序列相似性的染色体在物理上连接在一起，并交换它们的遗传物质片段。重组的频率和重组事件在配对染色体上的位置在个体之间有很大的差异。这项研究将以家鼠为模型系统，将分子遗传学方法与新技术相结合，对正在进行减数分裂的细胞和介导重组的细胞蛋白质进行成像，以确定控制减数分裂期间重组的数量和染色体位置的遗传因素。该项目将为本科生提供研究机会，并将支持一名女研究生继续接受定量和统计方法方面的培训，这是一个妇女人数不足的遗传学领域。此外，该项目将促进统计学家、进化生物学家和分子生物学家之间的多学科合作。最后，了解重组变异的遗传基础对健康有重要的应用。异常重组与不孕不育有关，识别导致重组变异的基因对这些挑战具有潜在的应用价值。

Meiosis is a specialized cell division that gives rise to sperm and egg cells that bear half the amount of DNA as other cells in the body. Recombination occurs at the onset of meiosis and is particularly important to the partitioning of DNA into sperm and egg cells. During recombination, chromosomes with high sequence similarity become physically joined and swap pieces of their genetic material. The frequency of recombination and the placement of recombination events along paired chromosomes are highly variable among individuals. Using the house mouse as a model system, this research will combine molecular genetic methods with new techniques for imaging cells undergoing meiosis and the cellular proteins that mediate recombination to identify the genetic factors that control the amounts and chromosomal locations of recombination during meiosis. This project will provide research opportunities for undergraduate students and will support the continued training of a female graduate student in quantitative and statistical methods, an area of genetics in which women are under-represented. Additionally, this project will promote multidisciplinary collaboration among statisticians, evolutionary biologists, and molecular biologists. Finally, understanding the genetic basis of variation in recombination has important applications for health. Aberrant recombination is linked to infertility and sterility, and identifying the genes that contribute to variation in recombination has potential application to these challenges.