Mating, Self-Fertility, and Meiosis in Yeast

智力优势：有性生殖是真核生物系统中的主要生殖方式，从单细胞酵母细胞到哺乳动物生物。该项目的目标是了解调节酵母有性生殖机制的多样性，并确定这些机制的变化如何导致不同的有性生殖模式。我们对性生物学的许多理解都来自于对模式酵母酿酒酵母的研究。然而，现在很明显，其他半子囊酵母在它们的性生活方式上表现出与S。啤酒。本计画将借由比较半子囊菌属念珠菌分支中多个物种有性生殖的机制来分析这些差异。这些代表了酵母物种的多样性，包括那些具有传统性程序（交配发生在两个异性伴侣之间）的酵母物种，那些能够进行自受精的酵母物种，以及那些可能完全无性的酵母物种。这个项目将研究如何通过性信息素信号调节自受精（近亲繁殖），以及在不同种类的酵母远系繁殖。此外，减数分裂的机制将在葡萄牙假丝酵母解决。该物种经历了一个有效的减数分裂染色体减数分裂程序，但缺乏许多关键基因调控减数分裂在S。酿酒。这项研究的完成将揭示如何修改或重新编程性生活方式，以促进密切相关的酵母物种之间的替代生活方式。更广泛的影响：本项目将介绍促进教育和研究中的科学整合的方法，使用两个广泛的主题。首先，来自代表性不足的少数民族的高中生将获得微生物学奖学金，来布朗大学参加大学预科暑期班以及项目负责人实验室的全职研究项目。项目负责人还将对这些研究金采取后续行动，参加研究金学员的高中活动，会见并鼓励对生物科学研究普遍感兴趣的其他学生。第二种方法将是进一步研究布朗大学本科生的机会。暑期奖学金将用于激发本科生对微生物学和遗传学的兴趣，特别是指导来自代表性不足的少数民族的学生。

Intellectual Merit: Sexual reproduction is the predominant mode of reproduction in eukaryotic systems, from single-celled yeast cells to mammalian organisms. The goal of this project is to understand the diversity of mechanisms that regulate sexual reproduction in yeast, and to determine how changes in these mechanisms can lead to distinct modes of sexual reproduction. Much of our understanding of sexual biology has been derived from work on the model yeast, Saccharomcyes cerevisiae. However, it is now apparent that other hemiascomycete yeast exhibit elemental differences in their sexual lifestyles to that of S. cerevisiae. This project will analyze these differences by comparing mechanisms of sexual reproduction in multiple species from the Candida clade of hemiascomycetes. These represent a diverse collection of yeast species, including those with traditional sexual programs (mating occurs between two partners of opposite sex), those that are able to undergo self-fertilization, and those that may be completely asexual. This project will examine how signaling via sexual pheromones regulates self-fertilization (inbreeding) as well as outbreeding in different species of yeast. In addition, the mechanism of meiosis will be addressed in Candida lusitaniae. This species undergoes an efficient program of meiotic chromosome reduction but is lacking many of the key genes regulating meiosis in S. cerevisiae. Completion of this research will reveal how sexual lifestyles can be modified or re-programmed to promote alternative lifestyles amongst closely related species of yeast.Broader Impacts: This project will introduce approaches that foster integration of science in education and research using two broad themes. First, high school students from underrepresented minorities will be given Microbiology Fellowships to come to Brown University and participate in pre-college summer classes as well as full-time research projects in the project leader's laboratory. The project leader will also follow-up these fellowships by attending the fellows' high school to meet and encourage other students with a general interest in research in the biological sciences. The second approach will be to further the research opportunities for undergraduate students at Brown. Summer fellowships will be used to stimulate undergraduate interest in microbiology and genetics, and in particular to mentor students from underrepresented minorities.