Collaborative Research: The genomics of adaptation in experimental yeast populations during short and long-term selection on invasive growth

种群如何发生遗传变化并适应环境条件是进化生物学、动植物育种和疾病中的一个基本问题。 这种遗传变化发生在两个时间尺度上。在短期内，选择作用于现有的遗传变异。在较长的时间尺度上，适应需要输入和选择新的突变。 新的基因组测序技术使人们有可能直接观察在对新的环境条件作出反应期间发生的全基因组遗传变化。该项目将研究在模式微生物酿酒酵母（面包酵母）种群中选择侵入性生长（真菌毒力的一个重要方面）期间适应的遗传基础。基因组测序和分析的新技术将被用于确定有助于侵入性生长变异的基因座，研究等位基因频率的变化，并确定选择过程中发生的新突变。这项研究将提供有关全基因组遗传组成如何影响受控进化和受其影响的新信息，可重复的实验，重点放在生态学上重要的真菌性状，并与致病性的出现有关。该项目将为公众教育提供一个很好的案例研究，包括进化过程中随机和可预测过程之间的相互作用，以及进化与人类健康的直接相关性。 研究和推广活动将为研究生、本科生和高中生提供实验室实验、群体遗传学、基因组学和生物信息学方面的跨学科和定量培训机会。

How populations change genetically and adapt to environmental conditions is a fundamental issue in evolutionary biology, plant and animal breeding, and disease. Such genetic changes occur on two time scales. In the short term, selection acts on existing genetic variation. On longer time scales, adaptation requires the input and selection of new mutations. New genome-sequencing technologies make it possible to observe directly the genome-wide genetic changes that occur during response to novel environmental conditions. The project will study the genetic basis of adaptation during selection for invasive growth, a trait that is an important aspect of fungal virulence, in populations of the model microbe Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast). New technologies for sequencing and analyzing genomes will be used to identify loci that contribute to variation for invasive growth, to study changes in allele frequencies, and to identify novel mutations that occur during selection.This study will provide new information about how genome-wide genetic composition both influences and is influenced by evolution in controlled, reproducible experiments that focus on a fungal trait that is ecologically important and related to emergence of pathogenicity. This project will furnish an excellent case study for public education on evolution, the interactions between random and predictable processes in evolution, and the direct relevance of evolution to human health. Research and outreach activities will provide interdisciplinary and quantitative training opportunities in laboratory experimentation, population genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics for graduate students, undergraduates, and high school students.