CAREER: Two phenotypes, one genome: genomic conflict as a research framework for professional development of science educators

当不同的生物体必须从同一组基因中产生时，就会发生基因组冲突，类似于从同一组蓝图中构建不同的结构。一个常见的例子是一个物种的共同基因组产生雄性和雌性。冲突的产生是因为在进化上有利于男性的基因在女性中不受欢迎，反之亦然。如果这些冲突难以解决，那么它们将对大多数物种的进化产生深远的影响。然而，如何从同一组基因中产生两种不同的生物体的基本问题超越了进化生物学，因为它涉及到从基因表达到调节每种性别发育的激素的每一步。这项研究将为基因组和表现型之间的关系提供基本见解，并为K-12教师提供尖端科学的重要培训。这个项目有三个目标：(1)利用新的测序技术来测量一种野生蜥蜴种群中基因冲突的数量，这种蜥蜴种群中的雄性和雌性差异如此之大，以至于经常被误认为是不同的物种；(2)测试这种冲突是否被最近发现的一种现象所缓解，即雌性似乎会适应性地偏向于后代的性别；(3)将育种实验与同时测量数千个个体基因表达的最新方法相结合，以测试激素水平的性别差异是否可以减少全基因组冲突。这项研究将支持一项新的专业发展计划，面向来自服务不足学校的高中科学教师，他们将与项目人员和全国科学与教育合作网络一起工作。

Genomic conflict occurs when different organisms must be produced from the same set of genes, akin to building different structures from the same set of blueprints. A common example is the production of males and females from the shared genome of a species. Conflict arises because genes that are evolutionarily favored in males are disfavored in females, and vice versa. If these conflicts are difficult to resolve, then they will have profound impacts on the evolution of most species. However, the basic question of how to produce two different organisms from the same set of genes transcends evolutionary biology because it involves every step along the way from the expression of genes to the hormones that regulate the development of each sex. This research will provide fundamental insights into the relationship between the genome and the phenotype, along with significant training of K-12 teachers in cutting-edge science. This project has three goals: (1) use new sequencing technology to measure the amount of genomic conflict in a wild population of a lizard in which males and females are so different that they are often mistaken for separate species, (2) test whether this conflict is mitigated by a recently discovered phenomenon in which females appear to adaptively bias the sex of their offspring, and (3) combine breeding experiments with the latest methods for simultaneously measuring the expression of thousands of individual genes to test whether sex differences in hormone levels can reduce genome-wide conflict. This research will support a new professional development program for high school science teachers from underserved schools, who will work alongside project personnel and a national network of collaborators in science and education.