Evolutionary, developmental, and physiological genetics of salmonid fishes

了解基因如何相互作用，以及如何与周围环境相互作用，从而带来个体的变化，仍然是现代生物学中最大的挑战之一。我们现在正在了解许多基因，这些基因对于带来发育变化和适应新的环境情况非常重要，但我们仍然缺乏准确的知识，从许多相互作用的遗传因素中，哪些基因可能是这些过程的最重要决定因素。我们距离了解脊椎动物身体中的所有基因是如何相互组织的还有很长的路要走以及保留多个基因副本对适应和生存是否重要。大多数脊椎动物物种的后代至少经历了两次全基因组复制(即体内所有基因和染色体的加倍)，而现代硬骨鱼是经历了额外一次全基因组复制的祖先的后代。有人认为，这一额外的基因组复制解释了为什么我们的鱼类物种(约3万种)比所有其他脊椎动物类别的总和多得多。此外，一些鱼类(如鲑鱼和鲑鱼)，已经经历了一次额外的基因组复制(即经历了4轮基因组复制)。影响重要生活史特征(例如性成熟年龄和季节性繁殖时间)的生长和时机的基因是自然界中影响鱼类生存的一些最重要的基因。本研究旨在确定影响鲑鱼生长和生活史适应特征的最重要的遗传因素。本研究还试图了解基因在鲑鱼基因组中是如何排列的，以及如何保留或丢失。这些物种是脊椎动物发生的复杂基因组变化的活生生的证明，因此，这项研究的知识将进一步加深我们对脊椎动物基因组进化的理解。此外，对遗传相互作用的研究可能有助于我们了解新种群是如何形成的，以及遗传相互作用是有助于促进还是抑制种群之间的遗传交流。

Understanding how genes interact with one another and with their surrounding environment to bring about changes in individuals remains one of the greatest challenges in modern biology.  We are now gaining an understanding of many genes that are important in bringing about developmental change and adaptation to novel environmental situations, yet we still lack precise knowledge on which genes, from many interacting genetic elements, may be the most important determinants of these processes.  We are also a long way from understanding how all the genes in the vertebrate body are organized with respect to one another, and whether the retention of multiple copies of genes are important in adaptation and survival.  Most vertebrate species have descended from ancestors that have undergone at least two whole genome duplications (i.e. doubling of all the genes and chromosomes in their body), while modern bony fishes have descended from an ancestor that experienced one additional whole genome duplication.  It has been suggested that this extra round of genome duplication accounts for why we have many more fish species (~30,000) compared to all other vertebrate classes combined.   Additionally, some fishes (e.g. salmonids such as salmon and trout), have undergone one extra genome duplication (i.e. have undergone 4 rounds of genome duplication).  Genes influencing growth and timing of important life-history traits (e.g. age of sexual maturity and time of seasonal reproduction), are some of the most important genes influencing fish survival in the natural world.  This research seeks to identify the most important genetic elements influencing growth and life-history adaptation traits in salmonid fishes.  This research also seeks to understand how genes are arranged, and retained or lost within the genomes of salmonid fishes.  These species are living testaments to complex genome changes that have occurred in vertebrates, and thus knowledge from this research will further our understanding of vertebrate genome evolution.  Additionally, the study of genetic interactions may help us to understand how new populations form, and whether genetic interactions help promote or inhibit genetic exchange among populations.