DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The epigenetic regulation of meiotic recombination

重组是所有有性生殖有机体的基本过程。重组描述了一个人的父系和母系衍生的染色体在传递给后代之前交换遗传物质的过程。这一过程有助于将适当数量的染色体分割成卵子和精子，并通过改组不同的基因拷贝来创造遗传多样性。尽管重组很重要，但人们对是什么导致重组事件在基因组的特定位置发生却知之甚少。选择重组事件位置的一种可能的机制是表观遗传学，它描述了一个人的遗传遗传物质的修饰，独立于一个人的基因编码。一些研究表明，表观遗传修饰DNA甲基化可能通过抑制某些位点经历重组事件来影响重组过程。因此，这项研究将利用模型系统黑腹果蝇直接测试DNA甲基化在重组中的作用。这些实验将用几种不同的技术来测量缺失负责DNA甲基化的基因的果蝇、基因过度表达的果蝇和具有正常基因的果蝇，以了解这些过程是如何相互关联的。重组和DNA甲基化的机制对从苍蝇到人类的生物的发展、进化和一般健康是基本的。重组错误会导致致命或发育衰弱的染色体缺陷。甲基化与人类疾病有关，特别是在癌症中肿瘤抑制基因的沉默方面。了解这些过程的相互作用和调控将对人类健康和医学产生直接影响。

Recombination is a fundamental process in all sexually reproducing organisms. Recombination describes the process where one's paternally and maternally derived chromosomes exchange genetic material before being passed to offspring. This process helps partition the proper number of chromosomes into egg and sperm and creates genetic diversity by shuffling different gene copies. Despite the importance of recombination, little is known about what causes recombination events to occur in particular locations of the genome. One possible mechanism for selecting the position of recombination events is epigenetics, describing modifications to one's inherited genetic material independent from what is coded in one's genes. Some research suggests that the epigenetic modification DNA methylation could affect the recombination process by inhibiting certain sites from experiencing a recombination event. Therefore, this research will utilize the model system Drosophila melanogaster to directly test for a role of DNA methylation in recombination. The experiments will measure recombination with several different techniques in flies missing the gene responsible for DNA methylation, flies in which the gene is over-expressed, and flies with the normal gene, to understand how these processes are interrelated. The mechanisms of recombination and DNA methylation are fundamental to the development, evolution, and general health of organisms from flies to humans. Errors in recombination result in chromosomal defects that are lethal or developmentally debilitating. Methylation has been implicated in human diseases, particularly in the silencing of tumor suppressor genes in cancer. Understanding the interaction and regulation of these processes will have direct implications in human health and medicine.