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，有时会以不利于宿主的方式进化。线粒体疾病，如我们称之为阿尔茨海默病的神经退行性疾病是一个结果，但许多其他病理，包括衰老本身，可能与线粒体功能失调的进化有关。因为mt是通过卵子传递的，所以即使是阻碍雄性特有功能的缺陷也能逃脱自然选择。精子特别受mtDNA突变的影响，因为大多数动物精子需要高mt输出才能发挥作用;在男性中，mt缺陷是不育的一个非常常见的原因。但如此高的产量可能会损害卵子和身体的生存，从而在雄性和雌性之间产生进化冲突。男性要影响mt的功能，需要细胞核中基因的干预，因此在性别和mt之间存在着复杂的、共同进化的和冲突的关系。拟议的研究利用了果蝇中的一个独特的模型系统，在该系统中，超过1000代的极端快速和缓慢的生命周期进化产生了16个在发育、生殖和衰老方面完全不同的种群。在这些治疗之间交换mt对男性，而不是女性，生育力和衰老有很强的影响，这与mt-细胞核性冲突假说一致。这些影响可以通过遗传学和显微镜的新技术来可视化，其中精子头部被遗传工程改造成荧光-红色或绿色-动物可以在其整个生命周期中作为衰老研究的缩影进行研究。在这里，我们有一个无与伦比的机会来加深我们对生物学中最重要的模型系统之一中与生育力和衰老相关的遗传过程的理解。

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.