Sexual Conflict, Ageing, and the Evolution of Cytonuclear Interaction.

线粒体（mt）——动物和其他真核细胞的“发电厂”——拥有自己的DNA，而且矛盾的是，有时会以对宿主不利的方式进化。线粒体疾病，比如我们称之为阿尔茨海默氏病的神经退行性疾病，是其中一个结果，但许多其他病理，包括衰老本身，可能与线粒体的功能失调进化有关。因为线粒体是通过卵子遗传的，即使是阻碍男性特定功能的缺陷也能逃脱自然选择的影响。精子特别受mtDNA突变的影响，因为大多数动物精子需要高mt输出才能发挥功能；在男性中，mt缺陷是导致不孕症的常见原因。但如此高的产量可能会危及卵子和身体的生存，造成雄性和雌性之间的进化冲突。男性对mt功能的影响需要细胞核内基因的干预，因此性别与mt之间存在着复杂、共同进化和冲突的关系。拟议的研究利用了果蝇中一个独特的模型系统，在果蝇中，1000多代的快速和缓慢的生命周期进化产生了16个在发育、繁殖和衰老方面截然不同的复杂种群。在这些治疗方法之间进行mt的交换对男性的生育能力和衰老有很强的影响，但对女性没有影响，这与mt-核性冲突假说相一致。这些影响可以通过遗传学和显微镜技术可视化，其中精子头部经过基因工程改造，发出红色或绿色的荧光，并且可以在动物的整个生命周期中作为衰老研究的微观世界进行研究。在这里，我们有一个无与伦比的机会，加深我们的理解遗传过程相关的生育和衰老在生物学首映模型系统之一。

Mitochondria (mt) - the "power plants" of animal and other eukaryotic cells - possess their own DNA and, paradoxically, sometimes evolve in ways that are unfavourable to their hosts. Mitochondrial diseases, such as the neurodegenerative condition we call Alzheimer's disease are one result, but many other pathologies, including ageing itself, may be related to dysfunctional evolution of mt. Because mt are passed down through the egg, even defects hobbling male-specific functions can escape natural selection. Sperm are particularly affected by mutations in mtDNA because most animal sperm require high mt output to function; in men mt defects are a very common cause of infertility. But such high output mt may compromise the survival of the egg and body, creating an evolved conflict between male and female. For males to influence mt function requires intervention by genes in the nucleus, and so a complex, coevolved, and conflicted relationship between the sexes and mt exists. Proposed research makes use of a unique model system in the fruit fly, Drosophila, in which over 1000 generations of evolution for extremely fast and slow life-cycles has produced a complex of 16 radically different populations with respect to development, reproduction and ageing. Trading mt between these treatments has a strong effect on male, but not female, fertility and ageing, consistent with the mt-nucleus sexual conflict hypothesis. These effects can be visualized using new techniques in genetics and microscopy, in which sperm heads are genetically-engineered to fluoresce -- red or green -- and animals can be studied across their entire life span as a microcosm for ageing research. Here we have an unparalleled opportunity to deepen our understanding of genetic processes related fertility and senescence in one of the premiere model systems in biology.