The ecology of sex-ratio distorting meiotic driver

性别比扭曲减数分裂驱动因素的生态学

• 批准号: 2274993
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Liverpool
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2274993
• 关键词: ecology; sex; ratio; distorting; meiotic

Gene drive systems are selfish genes that manipulate reproduction to enhance their transmission, at a cost to the rest of the genome. Currently, synthetic gene drive systems are being constructed for insertion into pest populations to eliminate or modify them. To be able to predict the outcome of such a release, we need to understand the dynamics of naturally occurring gene drive systems. X chromosome meiotic drive (XCMD) is a key model for gene drive. In males, these selfish X chromosomes kill Y chromosome bearing sperm during spermatogenesis, so all functional sperm carry the driving X, and all offspring are daughters. This can allow XCMD to spread very rapidly through populations, distorting sex ratios, and potentially eliminating entire populations due to a lack of males. However, almost all XCMDs seen in nature are found at stable frequencies and do not spread. The reasons for this stability are not understood.This project aims to investigate the factors preventing the spread of the XCMD "SRs" in the fruit fly Drosophila subobscura. SRs has been found at frequencies of 10-20% in North Africa for the past 50 years. It also cannot spread into European populations, due to incompatibilities between SRs and European autosomes.

基因驱动系统是自私的基因，它们操纵繁殖以增强其传播，但代价是基因组的其余部分。目前，正在构建合成基因驱动系统，将其插入害虫种群中以消除或改变它们。为了能够预测这种释放的结果，我们需要了解自然发生的基因驱动系统的动态。 X染色体减数分裂驱动（XCMD）是基因驱动的关键模型。在男性中，这些自私的 X 染色体在精子发生过程中杀死了携带 Y 染色体的精子，因此所有功能性精子都携带驱动性 X，并且所有后代都是女儿。这使得 XCMD 在人群中快速传播，扭曲性别比例，并可能因缺乏男性而消灭整个人群。然而，自然界中看到的几乎所有 XCMD 都具有稳定的频率并且不会传播。这种稳定性的原因尚不清楚。该项目旨在调查阻止 XCMD“SR”在果蝇 Drosophila subobscura 中传播的因素。过去 50 年来，北非发现 SR 的频率为 10-20%。由于 SR 和欧洲常染色体之间的不相容性，它也无法传播到欧洲人群中。