Uncovering the Molecular Mechanisms of Selfish Genetic Elements

揭示自私遗传元件的分子机制

• 批准号: 1244772
• 负责人: Marce Lorenzen
• 金额: $ 64.51万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-03-01 至 2018-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1244772&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Uncovering; Molecular; Mechanisms; Selfish; Genetic

Intellectual Merit: Advantageous genes normally persist and predominate in populations, while deleterious genes disappear. However, some non-adaptive genes have found ways to counter the forces of natural selection and infiltrate populations; these are known as selfish genetic elements or selfish genes. Such elements are able to increase in frequency and spread through populations by employing genetic mechanisms that circumvent Mendel's laws of inheritance. A fascinating case is that of the Maternal-Effect Dominant Embryonic Arrest (Medea) elements in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Heterozygous Medea females transmit a dominant-lethal factor to hatchlings, but the lethal effect is shut down in those progeny that inherit a Medea allele from either parent. Thus, each Medea allele encodes both a maternally loaded "poison" and an "antidote" expressed in the embryo. Little is known about how such elements function. Therefore, this project is aimed at discovering the molecular mechanism responsible for Medea's selfish behavior by using genetic and genomic tools to uncover the genes involved in self-selection. Broader Impacts: This project will increase our understanding of how selfish genes escape natural selection and infiltrate populations. This knowledge could provide a new mechanism for transferring traits into pest populations to make them less problematic. The project includes several educational components. The PI is participating in an NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (Genetic Engineering and Society: The case of transgenic pests) that is focused on training students in technologies used for manipulation of pest genomes as well as methods needed to assess the environmental and sociocultural appropriateness of specific products of these genetic manipulations. This research will be integrated directly into IGERT courses and research of IGERT graduate fellows. The project also includes activities that will provide undergraduates from underrepresented groups with an opportunity to participate in cutting-edge functional genomic research. Moreover, this research will be widely disseminated through outreach events by the PI and IGERT students to raise public awareness about the utility of transgenic technologies.

智力优点：有害基因通常在种群中持续存在并占主导地位，而有害基因则消失。然而，一些非适应性基因已经找到了对抗自然选择的力量并渗透到种群中的方法;这些被称为自私遗传因素或自私基因。这些因素能够增加频率，并通过采用遗传机制，绕过孟德尔的遗传规律在人群中传播。一个有趣的案例是红粉甲虫赤拟谷盗（Tribolium castaneum）中的母体效应显性胚胎停滞（美狄亚）元素。杂合的美狄亚雌性将显性致死因子传递给孵化的幼仔，但在从父母任何一方继承美狄亚等位基因的后代中，这种致死效应被关闭。因此，每一个美狄亚等位基因都编码了母体携带的“毒药”和胚胎中表达的“解毒剂”。人们对这些元素的功能知之甚少。因此，该项目旨在通过使用遗传和基因组工具来揭示参与自我选择的基因，从而发现美狄亚自私行为的分子机制。 更广泛的影响：这个项目将增加我们对自私基因如何逃避自然选择和渗透种群的理解。这种知识可以提供一种新的机制，将性状转移到害虫种群中，使它们的问题减少。该项目包括几个教育部分。主要研究员正在参加国家科学基金会的综合研究生教育和研究培训（遗传工程与社会：转基因害虫的案例），该培训的重点是培训学生掌握用于操纵害虫基因组的技术以及评估这些遗传操纵的特定产品的环境和社会文化适当性所需的方法。这项研究将直接纳入IGERT课程和IGERT研究生研究员的研究。该项目还包括一些活动，将为来自代表性不足群体的本科生提供参与尖端功能基因组研究的机会。此外，这项研究将通过PI和IGERT学生的外联活动广泛传播，以提高公众对转基因技术实用性的认识。