CAREER: Hybrid Incompatibility Genes in Caenorhabditis Species

这个研究项目调查了新的生物物种是如何形成的。鉴定线虫物种形成的遗传和分子机制的工作将得到公众成员分离新的蠕虫品系和物种的帮助。高中生将通过从腐烂的水果和鲜花中收集线虫直接参与科学研究。他们将学习如何进行研究，并将获得基因，DNA和进化的基本了解，这是越来越重要和社会相关。通过让学生参与科学实践，该项目实现了美国许多州最近采用的下一代科学标准的三个核心维度之一，并将通过帮助建立一个了解科学事业的知情公众来提高普通人群的科学素养，并能更好地为未来需要解释和评估科学知识的国家政策决策做出贡献。物种形成的过程涉及一个物种内种群之间生殖障碍的进化，以便单个物种可以分裂。虽然多重生殖障碍通常会隔离现有物种，但人们对最初是哪些障碍推动了物种形成过程知之甚少。该项目的目标是确定导致生殖隔离的基因，并确定其分子作用机制。该项目的重点是确定介导物种内不相容性的基因，并将在三个层面上运作：1）确定先前确定的线虫C种内不相容性的详细分子和细胞作用机制。elegans的自私毒素/解毒剂基因对介导的，2）确定相关线虫物种C中新发现的核质种内不相容性相关基因。nouraguensis，和3）在大规模项目中系统地搜索小杆线虫属内更多的种内遗传不相容性，以使用在高中教室中实施的众包方法分离小杆线虫物种的新菌株，并通过由本科研究人员进行的菌株的系统杂交来测试杂交破坏。

This research project investigates how new biological species form. Laboratory-based efforts to identify genetic and molecular mechanisms of speciation in nematode worms will be aided by the isolation of new worm strains and species by members of the general public. High school students will participate directly in scientific research by collecting nematodes from rotting fruits and flowers. They will learn how research is performed and will also gain a basic understanding of genes, DNA, and evolution that is becoming increasingly more important and societally relevant. By engaging students in the practice of science, this project fulfills one of the three central dimensions in the Next Generation Science Standards recently adopted by many states across the nation and will improve scientific literacy in the general population by helping to build an informed public that understands the scientific enterprise and can better contribute to future national policy decisions that require the interpretation and evaluation of scientific data.The process of speciation involves the evolution of reproductive barriers between populations within a species so that a single species can split. Though multiple reproductive barriers typically isolate existing species, less is known about which barriers drove the speciation process originally. The goal of the project is to identify genes that cause reproductive isolation and determine their molecular mechanisms of action. The project is focused on identifying genes that mediate incompatibility within species and will operate at three levels to: 1) determine the detailed molecular and cellular mechanism of action of a previously identified intraspecific incompatibility in the nematode C. elegans mediated by a selfish toxin/antidote gene pair, 2) identify the genes involved in a newly discovered nuclear-cytoplasmic intraspecific incompatibility in the related nematode species C. nouraguensis, and 3) systematically search for more intraspecific genetic incompatibilities within the Caenorhabditis genus in a large-scale project to isolate new strains of Caenorhabditis species using a crowdsourcing approach implemented in high school classrooms, and by systematic crosses of strains performed by undergraduate researchers to test for hybrid breakdown.